David Mohr's City Park Radio crew thriving with TSL, NBL1 South

Identifying a vacuum in radio sports commentary since ABC had stopped Tasmanian State League commentary, David Mohr and his group of mates on the microphones got the ball rolling.

"A group of us had talked about wouldn't it be great if we had sport back on the radio again and then we started dreaming about 'well can we do it?'," Mohr said.

"Then we had to buy the gear and get the training. Chris Ball, who used to be with the ABC, he was instrumental in doing a lot of the technical stuff to get us prepared.

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"So I think we decided to do it, probably in April of 2013 and our first broadcast was June 1, 2013 -Launceston versus Burnie at Windsor Park."

Working with Barry Triffitt, who commentated on the ABC for more than 35 years, the team got their unofficial training courses in the industry and started off calling the TSL, the Launceston Tornadoes and the NPL Tasmania.

Although they no longer call the NPL soccer, Mohr and his team - featuring Matthew McGee, Rob Soward, Michael Walker, stats man Dave Gruber and boundary riders Tony Webb and Chris Sayer - commentate each Northern TSL game and NBL1 South contest.

All volunteers, it's evident their passion for Tasmanian sport shines through.

"A lot of our listeners, even though every single broadcast we do now is linked up with a stream of some sort, whether it be the NB1 South or the TSL but we still have a big radio audience, especially elderly people, they're not tech savvy," Mohr said.

"They're in nursing homes or at home and still listen to the radio all day and we get good feedback from them that they love the fact that we bring them local sport and they listen to us fairly religiously.

"You've also got people in cars traveling, people out in the garden so radio's still got a place even though we're moving a lot towards streams, and they're great if you've got access to a screen, but radio still has its place.

"So if you listen to us on the NBL1 South for example, compared to the other streams, we're far more descriptive because our radio audience comes first.

"They can't see anything, you've got to tell them where the basketball is, you're going to tell them where the footy is, you've got to tell them the score quite often.

"They can't see it on a screen so you got to be far more descriptive. You can't have gaps, you can't stop talking for a few seconds, it's got to be flowing, it's got to be descriptive and you've got to paint the picture to the listener."

While every commentator has their key focuses points throughout contests, Mohr, who is a teacher at St Patrick's College, said that knowing the players is paramount.

Looking over team lists, previous matches and statistics fills some of his spare time throughout the week to make sure he knows what he's talking about.

"That makes the call flow if you're not looking down at your sheet to keep referencing," he said

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"Then once you've done that, you build on that and you actually start learning players by sight and pretty much now, especially with Launceston, North Launceston to a lesser extent because they've got some new younger players, I can just see a Launceston player, I don't need a number, I know it's Fletcher Seymour or it's Brendan Taylor.

"That's when you can build on to the next level because you're not worrying about if you can identify players and you can worry about other aspects of your commentary as well."

As well as covering their regular sports, the team have also covered some Greater Northern Raiders T20s in the Cricket Tasmania Premier League competition as well as previously the Stan Siejka Cycling Classic.

The quality of their work has been nationally recognised, winning the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia's Troy Garner Excellence in Sports Programming award in 2020.

Mohr lists this as a highlight and also has several sporting contests that stand out from the rest as well as the grand final battles.

From a Tornadoes point of view, a SEABL final down in Hobart came to mind.

"The Torns were a massive underdog and there was no stream of the game so people up North had to rely on us painting a picture," he said.

"The Torns got up in the last 30 seconds and it was one of the best ones we've done.

"The love of the Tornadoes by Northern Tasmanian people, it was just a natural choice to cover them."

In the TSL, the 2014 preliminary final, which pitted first-year side Western Storm against southern powerhouse Clarence, still proves to be a memorable one.

Storm won the match 16.10 (106) to Clarence's 15.14 (104), sending them through to a grand final despite the Kangaroos' Trent Standen kicking nine goals.

"Western Storm were massive underdogs, they had all sorts of injuries and it was the first year of the Storm," Mohr said.

"They were going ok but they were right up against it, Clarence were pretty strong - they had Trent Standen and a few other guys.

"I think both teams kicked about 18 goals and it went down to a two-point win to the Storm.

"The number of people that were listening back in the North was amazing. I think that's one of the best contests we've covered."

Mohr thanked the station for their support, with the growth of the sporting coverage extending their reach throughout the state.

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The crew's work, which is all voluntary given that City Park Radio is a community station, is well respected throughout the sporting community.

AFL Tasmania's Anthony Osborn, who commentates one of the Southern match-ups each week, is one of many who speak highly of Mohr and his fellow callers.

"The passion the City Park Radio team, led by David Mohr, have for Tasmanian sport is palpable in every broadcast," Osborn said.

"City Park Radio has become the sound of local football in Launceston, calling many of the TSL's most iconic moments and in doing so, bringing fans closer to the action.

"The call team's chemistry is infectious, and with David at the helm, their broadcasts are always informative, thorough and entertaining.

"I'm sure I speak on behalf of all Tasmanian footy fans in my gratitude for City Park Radio's commitment and passion for local sport."

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