![North Launceston co-captain Ben Simpson finds a teammate in Friday's TSL Northern derby. Picture by Paul Scambler North Launceston co-captain Ben Simpson finds a teammate in Friday's TSL Northern derby. Picture by Paul Scambler](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/8mt7fPj3AeZSAF4grZ2EUc/93590063-3061-4530-bf69-6d033847058c.jpg/r782_212_3691_2541_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
North Launceston were big winners in Friday night's Tasmanian State League Northern derby, defeating Launceston 14.12 (96) to 4.3 (27).
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Here are the main talking points from the second cross-town battle of the season.
North are the real deal...
Winning their past six games against all of the competition's sides, North Launceston could stake claim to premiership favouritism going forward.
After starting the season at 0-2 following losses to Launceston and Kingborough, they have defeated those two sides in contrasting contests over the past two weeks as their mix of youth and experience shines through.
Yet are also underrated
The Bombers had only had four members in the initial Tasmanian representative squad - Jack Avent, Brad Cox-Goodyer, Brandon Leary and Alex Lee.
Since then, co-captain Ben Simpson has been added, but Cox-Goodyer admitted he thought more of his young group could have been selected.
"That probably rubbed me the wrong way, knowing what we've got inside and I think it's starting to show now that we probably should have had a few more in there," he said post-game.
"But we've beaten every team now, so for a young group like that, they need belief and they've got it now."
He said there are a couple of others who "are probably stiff" not to be selected but "aren't household names".
"A general football supporter would look at our team and go 'I know about five players there' and I know internally we've got some pretty special players."
Watch this space on names like Mitch Nicholas, Connor Leeflang, Blade Sulzberger, Harry Bayles and Harvey Griffiths, who could be premiership stars for North in years to come.
![Brad Cox-Goodyer with Zane Littlejohn in 2016. Brad Cox-Goodyer with Zane Littlejohn in 2016.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/8mt7fPj3AeZSAF4grZ2EUc/d218f537-f1f5-49c9-959e-e076b7a4270b.jpg/r0_174_6016_3570_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Keep a seat warm
If you're a selector for the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame, get ready to add Brad Cox-Goodyer to that list in the coming seasons.
The 30-year-old has an unbelievable résumé across his 200-plus games for North Launceston: he's a five-time premiership player (two as captain), two-time Darrel Baldock Medallist for best player in the TSL grand final, two-time Alastair Lynch Medallist for competition best and fairest, two-time North Launceston best and fairest, 2019 player of the year, eight-time TSL team of the year member and a TSL life member.
He is still turning it on this year, having kicked 23 goals - including 10 over the past two weeks.
"I've built slowly into the year knowing that I'm getting a bit older now so I have to look after myself and if I can set myself for the big games and perform that's all I've got to do," he said.
"But I've also got to do other things like put the pressure on and defend and when the boys are moving the footy like that, sometimes it's pretty easy to get on the end of them, so I'm the benefit of the reward."
Big outs for Blues...
When you are missing captain Jobi Harper for three weeks due to suspension, one of the last things you want is for your ruck to go down in the first quarter.
Unfortunately for Launceston, that's what happened as Joe Groenewegen suffered an ankle injury, putting them two rotations down after Campbell Atkins' concussion.
If the 2021 Darrel Baldock Medallist is out for a long period, it makes next month or two crucial to their dreams of going four in a row.
It also tests their ruck depth, with Seth Pfeffier, Mitch Thorp and Jamieson House sharing duties after Groenewegen went down and Tiernan McCormack playing development league alongside his Devils commitments.
![Launceston coach Mitch Thorp moves the magnets around. Picture by Paul Scambler Launceston coach Mitch Thorp moves the magnets around. Picture by Paul Scambler](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/8mt7fPj3AeZSAF4grZ2EUc/0ea6fe8d-1a20-4413-a68b-b3c31a606bdd.jpg/r0_844_8256_5504_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Gives Thorp some perspective
Despite the heavy loss, coach Thorp spoke calmly and concisely about where Launceston sit after nine games in 2023.
Describing football as a game of chess, Thorp and the Blues are hoping to get their chess pieces right for the right time of the year.
"We have a different group and working out our chess pieces - who they are and where they play ... that's part of this year for us," he said.
"As we build into the second half of the year ... we're in a pretty good position - we probably weren't sure what we were going to get this year.
"So we'll be pretty balanced in the way we review this, there was no ranting and raving tonight or anything like that, it was more education."
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