Field umpire Ben Lehner has been named to officiate at his fifth consecutive Tasmanian State League (TSL) Grand Final when North Launceston meets Western Storm at Aurora Stadium this Saturday, September 20.
Lehner will be joined in the middle by 24 year-old Matt Clarke doing his third TSL final and Field Umpire of the Year, Joel Harris doing his second consecutive grand final.
Boundary umpires Joshua Enniss and Adam Reardon have been named for their fourth TSL final. Dean Picone will join them in his third final and Lachlan Marsden will be officiating in his second final.
Goal umpire Craig Geeves is another named for a second TSL Grand Final. He will be partnered in the goals by Michael White who is the debutant amongst the team.
Sam Cure (field) and Bradley Chamberlain (goal) have been named as emergencies.
State Umpiring Manager/Coach, Mike Brown, congratulated the umpires on their appointment for the biggest day of the season.
“This is a very experienced and talented team that has been selected with a total of 17 TSL Grand Final between them” Brown said.
The senior match will be observed by Tim Shearer and Adam Davis who are the National Talent Identification Coordinators. The 3 Field Umpires in the Senior Match (Matt Clarke, Joel Harris & Ben Lehner) are all on the AFL Talent Program. Subject to their performance they may be invited to the AFL Umpires’ Combine.
The Umpires Combine is held in Melbourne over 3 days from October 1st to October 3rd. The Combine is similar to the Players Draft Camp and encompasses the following activities:
• Medical Screening
• Fitness profiling (6 x 300 metres Shuttle Run and a 3 km Time Trial)
• Interviews
• Skill sessions
• Team Activities
• Laws of the Game Test
• What’s Your Decision Video Test
Brown made special mention of the achievement of Lehner.
“Although still only 26 years old, Ben is very experienced, having been umpiring for eleven years after commencing when he was only 16,” Brown said. ”Ben has already been appointed to over 100 TSL Senior matches, including 18 finals. His dedication, professionalism and consistency of performance over the years has been outstanding”.
TSL Grand Final day umpires
Field
Joel Harris – age 28
Matt Clarke – age 24
Ben Lehner – age 26
Boundary
Joshua Enniss – age 24
Lachlan Marsden – age 20
Adam Reardon – age 22
Dean Picone – age 24
Goal
Michael White – age 46
Craig Geeves – age 45
Emergency Field
Sam Cure – age 27
Emergency Goal
Bradley Chamberlain – age 20
