In depth: The Bombers’ ‘DNA’ for sustained success
North Launceston’s on-field health has survived generations, including five flags in a six year dynasty. We spoke to past and current players and coaches on the secrets to their success before Saturday’s last-ever TSL grand final against Lauderdale.
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It’s a picture that symbolises North Launceston’s sustained success.
Five cups, all won in a six-year period, and the four current players who featured in that dynasty.
But it’s also a reminder of those that have slipped through their grasp before Saturday’s last-ever TSL grand final against Lauderdale at UTAS Stadium.
Those cups were won from 2014 to 2019, including a ‘three-peat’ against Lauderdale from 2017-19.
However North Launceston has lost subsequent deciders in 2020, 2021 and last year.
That’s more than enough motivation to cap an unbeaten season with a win in the only game that matters.
“That (grand final defeats) has been driving a lot of players and it’s been a motivator over summer. The maturity of our group has been exceptional,” North Launceston coach Adrian Smith said.
“Hopefully that hard work and effort can be rewarded. We were probably beaten by better teams and they were deserving of those flags, we want to get the last one.”
Brad Cox-Goodyer, Jack Avent, Connor Young and Alex Lee all featured in that premiership run, and are looking to add another to their CVs.
2015 GRAND FINAL A STANDOUT
Ask Bombers legend Allan O’Sign his best memories of their dynasty, and the 2015 decider comes to mind.
After finishing third on the ladder, the Bombers were big underdogs against minor premier Glenorchy at Blundstone Arena.
O’Sign kicked three goals and Cox-Goodyer four as they upstaged the Magpies by two goals.
“It was one of the great games as a spectacle. Ebbs and flows, lead changes were through the roof and just some high class footballers going at it for 120 minutes,” O’Sign said.
“Glenorchy was the best team throughout the year. We lost ruck Daniel Roozendaal (suspension), Jay Lockhart and Tom Bennett (injuries), but we just had a team who cracked in.
“For Geoff (Mohr, defender) and I it was our last game, it was a nice one to finish up on.”
Smith is better placed than most to comment on the significance of that win. He guided the Bombers to a Development League flag in 2012, and was a long-time senior assistant before taking over the main job from Cox-Goodyer this year.
“We galvanised ourselves, we had a lot of turmoil during that week with suspensions and injuries,” Smith said.
“I think that was our finest performance as a coaching group collectively. The message we sold to our players, and their ability to buy into that showed what our culture stands for.
“If that’s not the greatest win we’ve had – we’ve had some good ones but that would be up there.
“It was a difficult year, but the character of the club stood out. That’s one of the grand finals we have won where we think that’s pretty top notch.”
It was so good, O’Sign and Mohr both decided to retire from state league football.
“For Geoff and I it was our last game, it was a nice one to finish up on.,” O’Sign said.
“That was the belief the coaches instilled in us. We’d been there before and trusted what we can do as a team.”
Mohr said the decision to call it quits after that game was an easy one.
“I thought it probably wouldn’t get any better than that,” he said.
“I was 32 or 33 and didn’t really want to go through another pre season. When you get that feeling, it’s the pinnacle of my footy career.
“No one really gave us a chance going down there. Everyone had their role in the team and stuck to it, but we also had a sprinkling of stars and when their moment came up to grab it they generally did.”
2014 – THE GREAT ESCAPE
The grand final win over Western Storm isn’t the standout memory of 2014 for the Bombers.
It was their get out of jail job against Clarence in a semi that earned them a home grand final which will go down in TSL infamy.
North Launceston kicked a flurry of late goals in the dying minutes to beat the Roos by five points.
“One of the greatest games I was involved in was that qualifying final,” O’Sign said.
“No one gave us a chance. We were down by three goals with about five minutes to go, we went ‘bang, bang, bang’ and got a home grand final.”
Smith added: “That was probably our grand final day in some ways. I’ll never forget the jubiliation in the coach’s box and among the playing group.
“It was just the excitement and how we could grind that out. It was in some ways what Lauderdale did to Clarence the other week (preliminary final). I don’t think we were going to lose the grand final after that, to be honest.”
THE CURRENT CROP
If the cups that surrounded co-captain Alex Lee at training on Monday could talk, they could tell some great post-match celebration tales.
“(They bring back) some very good memories, and some that probably don’t need to see the light of day again.” Lee grinned.
-”It was probably the buy-in from everybody (behind our success). After each flag we’d lost a couple of blokes to other competitions and other clubs, but the core group stayed there throughout and lifted everyone else up to the level required.
“They all blur together because each time playing Lauderdale they gave us a great contest, and each one they got a bit closer.”
But it’s the three grand finals lost which will drive the stalwarts, as well as ensuring the young players experience the euphoria they did.
“I don’t think the motivation could get much higher, especially doing it in front of our home crowd,” Lee said.
“I think the club is trying to coordinate getting a lot of our past players back here to really drive that Bomber army home, which we’ve had at every grand final.
“That will lift the boys up when needed.”
THE GOAT?
He openly admits he’s biased, but Smith rates Cox-Goodyer the TSL’s “most decorated player”.
Five flags, two Baldock Medals as best on ground in grand finals, two Alastair Lynch Medals as the league’s best and fairest, ten selections in the TSL team of the year, the Hudson Medal as last year’s leading goal-kicker and three years as Bombers coach.
His performance in the 2017 grand final could be his finest hour – eight goals playing primarily as a midfielder in the 87-point victory over Lauderdale.
Cox-Goodyer is yet to officially commit to playing again next season as he juggles a new coaching role with AFL Tasmania.
“Brad’s the most decorated footy player in the TSL period,” Smith said.
“He’s really focused at the moment on getting the next premiership to make it six. Whatever else happens after that is career dependent, he wants a life in footy.
“If it does happen to be his last game (so be it), but hopefully for us and Tassie footy he does find a way to balance footy and his career for a little longer yet. He’s too good a player to finish now.”
BOMBERS COACHING TREE
Inaugural TSL coach Chris Whitford and son Taylor are an example of how the coaching bug has been passed down.
Taylor was a captain before he became head coach, as was Cox-Goodyer, and that production line has ensured their core values and modus operandi remain in place.
After coaching the Bombers to two of his five flags at the club, Whitford now coaches VFL side Casey and is regarded by many as a potential future AFL coach.
Another premiership-winning coach, Zane Littlejohn, is now the main main at Box Hill.
“I started with the State League era in 2008-09 as a coach, and returned from 2014-20 as an unofficial assistant coach,” Whitford said.
“I never got a statewide premiership as a player, but loved being here from 14 to 20 and winning those cups. Officially I wasn’t a coach but I just love the club.
“Taylor’s done very well and I’m very proud, he’s kept the family name going. It’s just great to do that at a footy club that has had so many great families go through it.”
After he left the Bombers, O’Sign coached at George Town and said the impact the Bombers’ coaching set up has made for northern football in general is profound.
“The thing is a lot of North Launceston players have gone onto coaching. It’s a stepping stone to having a crack at that after what we learned there,” he said.
“It was a chance to go coach elsewhere, take that experience to community levels and get them up to speed with how a footy club should look like.
“That’s been one of the benefits of the state league.”
THE BOMBERS’ DNA
What are the cornerstones of a club’s sustained success?
Sometimes that’s tough to pinpoint. It can be the intangibles that can’t be measured. But for the Bombers their answer is quite simple – the people.
“I’ve reached out to our past coaches the last couple of weeks, to streamline some messages to the current players,” Smith said.
“What stood out in those conversations is they all talk about the people, the players wearing the sash and what that means to the individual, that mateship concept, they all say very similar things.
“That’s what stood out, that culture and values and what we stand for and growing from within. Then we support each other, and standing beside yours mate has been concepts that stand the test of time.”
O’Sign and Mohr sing from the same hymn book when asked the same question.
“This was home for a long time. You walk through the gates of York Park and you grow another leg wearing the red and black,” O’Sign said.
“You’ve got to put it down to the coaches coming with a mindset that believed in the players. “Players were valued, which was really important, and the players who committed to the program worked their backsides off and were challenged physically and mentally. They created a culture where winning was the only way for us.
‘It didn’t happen overnight, there was a lot of tough moments, and hard times but I guess you can see the success the club has sustained for a ten year period now.”
Mohr still remembers a phone conversation with his younger brother Tim, a former GSW Giant who played 48 AFL games, which highlights how hard the Bombers players work.
“I remember talking to my brother, who was playing at the Giants, and told him what we do at training. He was like ‘we don’t even train that hard over here’,” Mohr said.
“Throughout the club everyone has their role and sticks to it. They just go and do their job, and it’s just a good place to be.
“Everyoen gets on well and when I first started here in 2011, I came from another club and it’s the friendships and people here that creates it.”
THE FUTURE
North Launceston has made no secret of it’s disapproval of the State League’s dissolution.
They will compete in a six-team NTFA Premier League alongside current TSL side Launceston and NTFA teams Deloraine, Scottsdale, Longford and South Launceston from next year.
O’Sign said the club’s best young talent face a difficult decision on what their futures hold in 2025.
A Tasmanian VFL team is being targeted to enter the league in 2026.
“It is a shame. I feel for 19 or 20 year olds now who want to aspire to play against the best week in week out, because that might not necessarily be the case in Launceston next year,” O’Sign said.
“Obviously there’s bigger things to come with the Tassie VFL team, hopefully the current group can stay on board and give back to the club next year as well.
“It would be hard (not to shift to a mainland league). If you were really aspiring to be the best player possible and AFL was on your radar, you probably would move.
“Life situation and circumstances, it’s a hard one. I do feel for the players now having to make that decision.”
Mohr added: “Some of the young guys have put in such hard work playing state league footy, I remember how hard it was.
“To see these guys put in that effort and have it taken away from them to go back to community level, the standard is nowhere near what the standard is here.”
Smith said the group will take time to reflect on the journey on Saturday win or lose.
“After Saturday regardless of the loss when you have that bond together, it will be emotional,” he said.
“We know we’ve got one last chapter to write and create the history we want to so we can enjoy that moment.”
NORTH LAUNCESTON’S GRAND FINAL DYNASTY
2014
North Launceston 4.2 9.5 12.9 18.13 (121) def Western Storm 1.1 4.1 7.2 10.2 (62) at UTAS Stadium
Best: North Launceston – D. Roozendaal, A. Cox-Goodyer, R. Worn, E. Petterwood, M. VanDenBerg, T. Whitford; Western Storm – Z. Brown, T. Bardenhagen, C. Drake, W. Hanson, A. Russell, M. Hanson
Goals: North Launceston – A. O’Sign 3, C. Tarrant 3, M. VanDenBerg 3, B. Cox-Goodyer 3, Z. Burt 2, E. Petterwood, J. Ponting, L. Young, W. McBride; Western Storm – Z. Brown 4, T. Bardenhagen 2, A. Russell 2, J. Blackberry, C. Drake
Baldock Medal: Daniel Roozendaal
2015
North Launceston 5.2 7.7 9.9 13.13 (91) def Glenorchy 2.1 5.1 8.11 11.13 (79) at Blundstone Arena
Best: North Launceston – J. Holland, C. Nankervis, B. Cox-Goodyer, G. Mohr, E. Petterwood, A. Lee; Glenorchy – J. Bowden, M. Dilger, S. Hall, C. Brown, D. Muir, B. Webb
Goals: North Launceston – B. Cox-Goodyer 4, A. O’Sign 3, J. Holland 3, Z. Burt, W. McBride, J.Pearce; Glenorchy – J. Bowden 4, S. Piuselli 2, Mitchell Rainbird 2, D. Muir 2, L.Smith
Baldock Medal: Josh Holland
2017
North Launceston 3.6 13.10 17.13 21.22 (148) def Lauderdale 1.2 3.4 6.7 9.7 (61) at UTAS Stadium
Best: North Launceston – B. Cox-Goodyer, A. Richter-Salter, J. Ponting, J. Pearce, T. Whitford, M. Walsh; Lauderdale – M. Anderton, J. Roberts, P. Bellchambers, N. Franklin, A. Hevey, A. Hill
Goals: North Launceston – B. Cox-Goodyer 8, M. Walsh 3, T. Couch 2, J. Pearce 2, T. Thomas 2, T. Whitford 2, B. Simpson, T. Bennett; Lauderdale – R. Wiggins 4, A. Hill 2, R. McManus, M. Kleverkamp, A. Hevey
Baldock Medal: Brad Cox-Goodyer
2018
North Launceston 2.4 3.8 5.13 7.21 (63) def Lauderdale 2.3 3.7 3.9 4.9 (33) at UTAS Stadium
Best: North Launceston – B. Cox-Goodyer, J. Ponting, T. Thomas, A. Lee, J. Avent, B. Sharman; Lauderdale – O. Shaw, N. Franklin, P. Bellchambers, N. Baker, H. Smith, R. McManus
Goals: North Launceston – T. Thomas 2, S. Egger, B. McCulloch, T. Couch, B. Cox-Goodyer, T. Bennett; Lauderdale – T. Mosquito 2, J. Gillbee 2
Baldock Medal: Brad Cox-Goodyer
2019
North Launceston 4.3 7.5 10.8 13.10 (88) def Lauderdale 1.2 5.4 8.5 9.5 (59) at Blundstone Arena
Best: North Launceston – J. Ponting, J. Avent, J. Foon, J. Callow, R. Mansell, W. Edmunds; B. Walsh, N. Franklin, E. Trupp, J. McGuinness, H. Kerinaiua, N. Raglione
Goals: North Launceston – J. Callow 3, W. Edmunds 2, D. Bannister 2, T. Donnelly, B. Simpson, S. Egger, J. Foon, J. Ponting, B. Cox-Goodyer; Lauderdale – N. Raglione 2, H. Kerinaiua, B. McGuinness, S. Burge, E. Trupp, A. Saunders, A. Hill, R. McManus
Baldock Medal: Josh Ponting
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