Clarence coach to end six year rein at end of TSL season; eager to continue as Roos player only
Clarence will soon begin its search for a new TSL coach after Jeromey Webberley informed the club he will not be continuing beyond the 2021 season. LATEST >>
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OUTGOING Clarence coach Jeromey Webberley will “definitely” throw his hat in the ring for the full-time Devils position after confirming 2021 is his last at the helm of the Roos.
Webberley informed the playing group last week he would end his six year tenure at the completion of the TSL season, but intends to continue as a player.
The 33-year-old said the Devils role — recently vacated by Cameron Joyce and currently filled on an interim basis by Mathew Armstrong — is of interest, but it would have to work around his family requirements.
A desire to spend more time with his wife and two children is a major reason the former Richmond winger has decided to hand the Clarence coaching reins on.
Webberley also wants to finish his playing career without the burden of coaching, and wants to hand the keys to a side on the verge of being a State League premiership contender to a long term appointment.
“I have a young family and coaching has a major impact on that, sometimes when I am at home I am a little distant and not engaged as much as I should be,” Webberley said.
“I feel I need to give back to them as much as I can. My wife would let me do it for the next 15 years but the reality is, it’s starting to weigh on me at home.
“I felt it was the right time [to make the announcement].
“No doubt I will apply for the Devils role, but the reality is one, I have to be successful and two, it has to fit around my family commitments I have got.
“That is a large part of the decision on why I stepped down as Clarence coach.
“It is something I think will interest every coach in Tasmania and probably get some interest from guys on the mainland as well.
“I will definitely be having a look at that when it gets advertised, but there is some water to go under the bridge there as well.”
Webberley has no plans to leave the Roos, but will make the best decision for the club should his successor feel uncomfortable with him still in the changerooms.
“My ultimate goal is to stay at Clarence but I understand a new coach, he or she may feel uncomfortable with me as part of the playing group.
“If that’s the case then ultimately that’s their decision.
“I am really keen to stay involved at Clarence as a player because I honestly believe the club is going in the right direction and I have 100 per cent belief this playing group can get the job done.”
Clarence has a bye this weekend before resuming its run into finals against Tigers in a battle which will determine who hosts the elimination final.
Bombers sink Tigers, Roos pluck Pies
CLARENCE dodged a black and white bullet at KVG on Saturday and their 25-point win over a resurgent Glenorchy put the Roos in the box seat to secure third spot on the TSL ladder with four weeks to the finals.
Glenorchy played arguably its best football of the year in a scintillating first half and despite Clarence kicking the opening goal in the first minute, the magnificent Magpies led until the eight-minute mark of the final term.
They were finally run down, the Roos coming home with a five-goal flurry to take a wet and wintry contest 9.11 (65) to 6.4 (40).
It was an important win for the Roos, who didn’t know that fourth-placed Tigers were going down to Lauderdale at Lauderdale Oval.
It put Clarence two games and percentage clear in third, but playing coach Jeromey Webberley hobbled off with a hamstring strain late in the third quarter and will be in doubt for the Roos’ return after next week’s bye.
“It’s a one or two-week strain so I will be touch-and-go after the bye,” Webberley said.
“It was an important box to tick and it took us a while. The pleasing thing is we adjusted and got the job done.
“We’ll move on to the bye. We’re looking forward to that. We get to rejuvenate and get ready for the back end of the year.”
Nick Reibelt got the party started for Glenorchy with his goal early in the first quarter – the first of four on the trot.
Glenorchy hit targets inside 50m and its backline was like a human bear trap, clamping down on forward incursions by the boys in red and white.
Fresh out of Covid-19 isolation, towering Pie Darren Wyatt was outstanding at full-back playing the quarter-back role in a highly effective defensive unit.
When the rain hit in the third term, the figurative goal posts moved, Glenorchy’s laser-like passing and fast handballs washed away, replaced by a game of desperation.
The Pies led by 11 at the final change, and then Clarence pressed hard and a regular supply of balls inside 50 allowed them to run away with tehe match.
The Pies were gutted.
“We are disappointed,” said Glenorchy coach Paul Kennedy.
“The guys gave it everything and from the first half played some really good football.
“We showed that if we’d had somewhere near our best team the whole year we be playing some really good football by now.”
Bombers bring down Tigers in TSL thriller
FINALS might be off the agenda for Lauderdale in 2021 but the club has set itself a goal of shaping the TSL top four and duly delivered a dagger to the Tigers.
As heavy second-half rain hit a soggy SkyBus Oval, the Bombers blew a 28-point lead midway through the third term before fighting back from 10 down in the last to upstage the Tigers by two points.
When an errant centring kick from Lauderdale defender Oscar Shaw was turned over at halfback and Tom Wright waltzed into an open goal at the 17-minute mark of the last stanza, the visitors had booted six straight majors either side of three-quarter time and appeared headed for victory.
But the hosts dug deep and hit back through Ed Stanley — who had 0.3 and one out on the full to his name until converting a set shot — before best afield Sam Siggins marked and goaled from 40m to put his side back in front three minutes into time on.
Lauderdale then survived several attacking waves to chalk up a 9.12 (66) to 8.16 (64) result that could have severe implications for the Tigers hopes’ of landing third spot and a home final.
“I think it just shows the growth in the group over the last six or eight weeks, we’ve been working on a few things and they’re just starting to come out in games,” Bombers coach Daniel Willing said.
“What we want to do over the last six weeks is make an impact on the competition, and for us to be able to beat some sides above us really shapes the finals.
“We might not be able to play in them but we can certainly have an impact on what it looks like.
“Probably eight weeks ago we lose that game by three or four goals and today [we were] able to stand up.”
Boom AFL recruit Allen Christensen had limited touches in the first three quarters but was dangerous in booting three goals as a small forward, before being moved into the middle late in the final quarter to get momentum rolling back Lauderdale’s way.
Josh McGuinness was again enormous in defence before providing headaches as a forward in the third term, when the Bombers kicked the first three goals to threaten to blow the contest apart.
Luke Graham booted three goals for Tigers, but they could lose George O’Neill to suspension for a high, front-on hit on Billy Rolfe that sparked a small melee just after halftime and seemed to inject life into the hosts.
“It was a little bit of a roller coaster,” Tigers coach Trent Baumeler said.
“We probably at times looked a little bit flat mentally for us as to where we have been [coming off a tight loss to Launceston], but the pleasing thing was to fight our way through that.
“We pride ourselves on being able to close that out better, especially in these conditions … disappointing but some things to work on and we move on.”
Tale of two halves as Bombers down Demons
IT was classic Jekyll and Hyde for North Hobart as it was overwhelmed by North Launceston at North Hobart Oval.
The first half was everything the club is excited about — talent, youth, system and commitment as the Demons stormed to a 21-point lead at half time.
The second half, particularly the third term, was the type of footy that leaves the Dees languishing in the bottom of the ladder with just one win for the season as the Northern Bombers departed with a 36-point win, 15.9 (97) to 9.7 (61).
The visitors kicked 12 goals to three after half time, including 6.3 to no score in the third quarter, to dominate the second half.
But the first half was completely different.
The Demons swarmed the more highly fancied Northern Bombers and led by as much as 27 points late in the second term.
But as the rain halted their ball movement, the visitors lifted their intensity and it soon became one-way traffic towards the Bombers’ goals.
Demons coach Clinton French said there were many more positives than negatives, but his side learned a valuable lesson after half time.
“It was pretty simple for us, we tried to save the game rather than continue to try and win it.
I thought our first half was really good and we played to the brand we want to be building on.
“That was one of our better games where we had some really good ball movement, so definitely a step forward. In the first quarter we had more than 25 tackles, which was really pleasing as well.”
Northern Bombers small forward Brandon Leary was a star all day, finishing with a gamehigh five goals in a vital performance.
He was a constant danger when his side was down, and cashed in after half time with two goals in each of the last two quarters.
Gap between north and south is closing
DESPITE being fierce rivals, North Launceston coach Brad Cox-Goodyer agrees with Jeromey Webberley and Trent Baumeler that the gap between TSL clubs in the north and the south is closing.
North Hobart will not feel that in their clash at North Hobart Oval on Saturday with the Northern Bombers set to respond after their loss to Clarence last Saturday.
The Bombers plan to hit back hard this week after going down to the Roos in a thriller at UTas Stadium _ one of the best home-and-away games the State League has ever seen.
Webberley’s Roos played arguably their best game in four years to topple North for the second time this season, and on the same day Baumeler’s Tigers pushed reigning premier Launceston in another thriller at Twin Ovals.
Cox-Goodyer says it’s game-on near the top of the ladder.
“They are 100 per cent right. If you don’t show up on the day, any team can be beaten,” Cox-Goodyer said
“Clarence has beaten us twice, and we’ve only beaten them once, and the Tigers probably deserved to win against Launceston, so I don’t know where this gap talk comes from.
“It’s more about the side that shows up on the day and gets the job done.”
The Bombers are out to make a statement against the Baby Dees.
“Absolutely. It would have been nice to win last week and get ourselves a pretty big buffer in second spot _ it would have been three wins and percentage in second but instead we are only one game and percentage in second,” Cox-Goodyer said.
“All is not over for that second spot so we need to continue to win and build our form.”
North Launceston is wary of North Hobart.
“They are a much better side when they have all of their Devils back and we only beat them by four goals last time down there,” Cox-Goodyer said.
“We definitely need to put in a better performance this time, especially coming off two losses.
“I’m expecting us to bounce back pretty strongly.”
Tigers lose another key forward
THE Tigers’ hunt for a more potent attack was dealt a body blow this week with the news that Cooper Sawdy may miss the rest of the season with a broken jaw.
The gifted forward had surgery on Wednesday night and now has two titanium plates in his face.
Sawdy joins big teammate Tyler Carter on the sidelines after he went down with a dislocated ankle in a match against Clarence in May.
Sawdy’s injury was a few dark clouds over an excellent performance by the Tigers against Launceston, despite losing a cracking game by 13 points at the Twin Ovals last Saturday.
Tigers coach Trent Baumeler said the loss of Sawdy would only inspire the boys in yellow and black in their round 17 clash with Lauderdale at Lauderdale Oval on Saturday.
“Cooper copped an inadvertent knock and he’s got a fracture in his jaw so he will miss some time,” Baumeler said.
“That was probably the footy god’s way of telling us we’re not going to have a key forward this year because we lost Tyler and we now lose Cooper.
“We will shift the magnets around again move forward. It will be a slow recovery so it will be touch and go whether we see him again this season.”
All TSL clubs are waiting to hear about Covid-19 restrictions on Friday and whether their Tasmania Devils are available to play State League this round.
Lauderdale players are walking taller after an 81-point demolition of Glenorchy on the Bombers’ home deck last Saturday, led by a five-goal haul to Ed Stanley.
They hope to repeat the dose against the Tigers.
“It was outstanding,” said Bombers coach Dan Wills.
“This season hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to go. It felt like we had been building some reasonably good form and we were able to put it together for four quarters last week.”
North Hobart is fresh off the bye for its clash with North Launceston at North Hobart Oval.
The Demons are hoping their Devils will be available after Covid restrictions placed them in lockdown on return from Melbourne.
“They should be available after midnight on Friday,” said Dees coach Clinton French.
The Northern Bombers regained tough forward Zac Burt, who was unavailable last week when they lost to Clarence, and opted to rest ruckman Alex Lee.
GLENORCHY v. CLARENCE
Round 17 - 24/07/2021
01:30 - KGV
Glenorchy:
B: J. Arnold, B. Patterson, D. Brown
HB: N. Blowfield , C. Howard, D. Joseph
C: L. Nicholson, J. Geard, N. Reibelt
HF: C. Daly, H. Gunther, A. Roberts
F: M. Joseph, C. Meredith, C. Thompson
R: J. Deegan, R. Oakley, B. Kamaric
Int: I. Manson, J. Meredith, J. Saavedra, J. Whitford, B. Simpson*
Emg: M. Dilger, C. Goodsell, B. Webb, D. Wyatt
In: Nil
Out: Nil
Clarence:
B: J. Bealey, Z. Buechner, L. Swinton
HB: J. Holmes, S. Green, O. Paprotny
C: J. Harper, E. Jackson, K. Saward
HF: J. Green, C. Garland, O. Preshaw
F: J. Barwick, J. Bailey, T. Penwright
R: O. Angerstein, B. Norton, J. Webberley
Int: B. Alomes, H. Burgess, K. Howlett, J. Preshaw, S. Banks*, D. Gardner*, J. Young*, N. Holmes*, B. Smith*, L. Borsboom*, T. McCallum*
Emg: D. Howlett, C. Lovell, J. Tremayne, C. Whitelaw
In: J. Preshaw,
Out: J. Steele
LAUDERDALE v. TIGERS
Round 17 - 24/07/2021 - 02:00 - Lauderdale Oval
Lauderdale:
B: O. Shaw, W. Poland, J. Williams
HB: W. Francis, T. Sookee, J. McGuinness
C: A. Hevey, B. Rolfe, L. Paton
HF: F. Kenny, H. Richmond, N. Raglione
F: A. Christensen, T. Martin, E. Stanley
R: H. Smith, S. Siggins, R. Sutton
Int: L. Gallagher, L. Hodoniczky, B. Kingston, T. Ratcliffe, S. Tilley*
Emg: F. Rackett, N. Shaw, B. Steinbauer, O. Warmbrunn
In: H. Richmond
Out: O. Warmbrunn
Tigers:
B: L. Gadomski, M. Reynolds, B. Rees
HB: M. Davies, B. McCulloch, B. Donnelly
C: Z. Adams, L. Clifford, L. Griggs
HF: S. Duigan, R. Ashlin, T. Wright
F: M. Collidge, L. Graham, E. Reardon
R: M. Gardner, W. Campbell, E. Cole
Int: A. Bessell, W. Clifford, G. O’Neill, P. Reihana
Emg: J. Doran, P. Kelly, J. Keogh, J. Pride
In: G. O’Neill,
Out: C. Sawdy
NORTH HOBART v. NORTH LAUNCESTON
Round 17 - 24/07/2021 - 02:00 - North Hobart Oval
North Hobart:
B: M. Campbell, C. Kilpatrick, B. Young
HB: J. Bingham, T. Liefhebber, H. Williams
C: J. Hilder, J. Pullen, S. Banks-Smith
HF: A. Norton, J. Willmott, C. Smith
F: F. Poke, K. Ryan, B. Walker
R: N. Jackson, H. Williams, S. Caswell
Int: J. McCulloch, J. Medwin-Smith, T. Millhouse, N. Sulzberger
Emg: T. McGinniss*, G. Mcleod*, J. Menzie*, W. Splann*, D. White*
In: N. Sulzberger,
Out: J. Sandric
North Launceston:
B: J. Avent, C. Nankervis, B. Van Buuren
HB: F. Bennett, W. Edmunds, R. Whitney
C: N. Pearce, B. Cox-Goodyer, M. Stingel
HF: B. Leary, T. Bennett, B. Simpson
F: T. Donnelly, J. Edmunds, J. Rushton
R: A. Lee, M. Walsh, J. Foon
Int: Z. Burt, B. Sulzberger, O. Van dam, T. Ives*, R. Sanders*
Emg: H. Bayles, D. Chugg, H. Griffiths, E. Hubbard,
In: Z. Burt,
Out: B. Mitchell
*Devils players
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