Goulding weighs in on "little island" debate

Melbourne United captain Chris Goulding has attempted to cool the war of words between Tasmania and Melbourne heading into Game 2 of their Championship Series, and has asserted there was nothing “untoward” about Dean Vickerman’s comments towards Scott Roth heading into Game 1.

Vickerman said Roth was welcome to “defend his little island” prior to the clash – in reference to his counterpart’s ‘defend the island mantra’. Roth followed up, stating his disappointment at Vickerman’s perceived slight at the Tasmanian people.

Goulding, who was born in Launceston, says his coach’s comments have been misconstrued.

“I would imagine a fair portion of it’s been taken out of context,” Goulding told SEN.

“It was more along the lines of what they need to do to try and win, but us over here, we need to focus on us and what we’re trying to do to try and win this championship.

“I don’t think it was anything disrespectful, I’m a Tassie boy and Tanner Krebs is a Tassie boy, so I don’t think there’s anything untoward going on there.”

He added the JackJumpers are welcome to use the comments to fuel their fire ahead of Game 2.

“I think at this time of year you probably shouldn’t need any more motivation than going out to win a championship. That’s what we’re focusing on doing and we’re looking forward to a great challenge in Tasmania on Friday night.”

MyState Bank Arena has been heralded as one of the most intimidating away venues in the NBL since Tasmania’s inclusion into the competition, but Goulding says his side is looking forward to the likely frosty reception they will receive on Friday night.

United has a split 3-3 record at the venue over their time playing Tasmania there, but two of those three defeats have come in excess of 20 points.

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That includes their last game at the venue, where a Jordon Crawford-inspired JackJumpers ran out as 22-point winners.

Goulding says an aggressive, loud away crowd is far better than the alternative.

“’It’s human nature, people are screaming at you and you’re hearing some things, but the biggest thing to understand is what do you want them to do? Do you want them to cheer for you as the away team? These are the environments you want to step into to try and get wins,” he said.

“We’ll be embracing that and looking forward to it. It’s a great environment to play in and their fans do a great job of packing it out and being loud, as do ours. It’s what you want from a league that’s growing and teams that are at the top of their games, so we really look forward to it.

“I made the comment in a press conference, it’s a hell of a lot better than playing with an empty crowd with no one yelling at you, which we did through Covid a lot of the time. These are the environments you want to go and play in and try and get a win in, and that’ll certainly set us up to come back home if we’re able to go down there and get a win.”

Should United earn a win in front of the JackJumpers faithful on Friday night, they’ll have the opportunity to wrap up the Championship Series on Sunday evening at John Cain Arena.

Their 23-point Game 1 win has put United in the driver’s seat heading into Game 2, but Goulding says they’re not looking any further ahead than Friday’s fixture.

“Ideally, yeah. I don’t think it matters when we do it (win the championship), but that’s obviously our goal,” he said.

“I’ve been lucky enough to do it in front of a home crowd before and it’s really special, but we’re not going to even think about that.

All we’re thinking about is the first few minutes of the first quarter of that game down in Tassie on Friday night, and how we can come out and be better than we were.”

Game 2 of Melbourne’s Championship Series against Tasmania will tip off at 7:30pm AEDT on Friday night, live on ESPN via Kayo.