Tigers take Shield title

TASMANIA could not secure victory on the final day but it mattered little as the Tigers picked up their third Sheffield Shield title.

After setting Queensland 446 to win off 87 overs, the Tigers reduced the Bulls to 3-36.

But from here the visitors decided a win was not realistic and completely shut up shop. The game finished in a draw an hour early, with Queensland 6-183.

The Tigers were in with a slight chance of victory after dismissing Joe Burns (32) in the final over before tea.

With 17.4 overs remaining, Ben Hilfenhaus trapped Nathan Reardon leg before and with 59 balls to go Butterworth did likewise to James Hopes.

But on a docile pitch Tasmania could not extract enough life to run through the Queensland batting.

Despite the draw, Tasmania dominated the match and ended coach Tim Coyle's career fittingly with his and the state's third Shield title.

The Tigers greatest ever batsman Ricky Ponting picked up his first domestic title – the only honour missing from his long list of achievements.

Ponting, 38, is yet to decide whether to play on next season but has hinted he may be back.

Hilfenhaus and Luke Butterworth each took a brace of wickets, while James Faulkner and Evan Gulbis chipped in with one each for Tasmania.

Nathan Reardon was the mainstay for Queensland, surviving 149 balls to make 51, with Chris Hartley (23 off 96 ) and Michael Neser (18 off 27) the not-out batsmen.

Read the full coverage from Brett Stubbs and Adam Smith in tomorrow's Mercury.

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Masked pair robs Foodstore

POLICE are searching for two masked offenders who robbed The Foodstore in Lenah Valley.

Detective Sergeant Greg Rogers said the pair parked outside the Augusta Rd shop in a older model cream Volvo sedan -- stolen earlier from Poets Rd in West Hobart -- about 7.30am today.

They then entered the store and demanded money.

"They have forcibly removed a cash register from the service counter," police said in a statement.

"The offenders have then fled back to the vehicle with the cash register and were last seen heading down Giblin St in a northerly direction."

A pair of scissors believed to belong to the pair was found at the scene.

Police recovered the Volvo a short time later in Cheviot Rd, West Moonah.

Both offenders are described as being of light-to-medium build and between 160 and 175cm tall.

They had Australian accents, were wearing dark clothing and had balaclava-type masks covering their heads.

Anyone with information is urged to call Hobart CIB on 6230 2603 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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'Photog' guilty of sex attack

A SYDNEY man who claimed to be a professional photographer has been found guilty of sexually assaulting an aspiring model he met over the internet.

Anthony Douglas Glass, 23, of Bardwell Park, showed no emotion late today when a Supreme Court jury returned guilty verdicts on two counts of aggravated sexual assault and indecent assault over an incident in a Hobart hotel room in September 2011.

The jury returned not guilty verdicts on charges of involving a person under the age of 18 in the production of child exploitation material and producing child exploitation material. 

The trial was told the 17-year-old girl created a profile on the Model Mayhem website.

Glass contacted her to arrange a modelling session including lingerie and nude photographs.

On September 20, 2011, the young woman met Glass at the St Ives Hotel at Battery Point and went to his room.

He produced a small pocket camera, explaining he had broken the lens on his larger camera.

The young woman posed for photographs clothed and nude -- alone and with Glass -- during which he indecently assaulted her.

He suggested they take a break and asked the girl if she wanted to "fool around", at one point offering her $100.

She replied: "I'm a model, not a whore."

As the pair sat next to each other on the bed, Glass grabbed the girl, tried to kiss her and twice sexually assaulted her

She later texted her boyfriend to pick her up and reported the attack to police that same day.

Glass admitted having sexual contact with the girl but said it was consensual.

Justice Peter Evans will sentence Glass tomorrow.

david.killick@news.com.au

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More pain for bus travellers

METRO bus drivers will hold three stop-work meetings next week, causing major disruption to peak hour services.

Drivers plan to meet from 7.30 to 8.30am and 2pm to 3pm on Wednesday and again between 7.45am and 8.45am on Thursday.

The meetings will affect services in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie.

Metro chief executive officer Heather Haselgrove said each meeting would disrupt services for up to three hours because of the time it takes for drivers to get to and from the meetings.

"The stop-work meetings on Wednesday will be particularly disruptive as they will affect peak-hour services in the morning and school bus services in the afternoon," Ms Haselgrove said.

The stop-work meetings follow the mail out of the revised enterprise agreement and wage offer to drivers today.

The offer includes an increase in the pay offer to 2.1 per cent with proposed offsets for opening urban satellite yards and extending a limited number of drivers' duties to 5 hours 30 minutes with two 15-minute breaks.

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DPP hurt in fatal crash

A cameraman at the scene of Sunday's fatal head-on crash on the Midland Highway, south of Oatlands. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

A VEHICLE being driven by Director of Public Prosecutions Tim Ellis, SC, was on the wrong side of double white lines when his car collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle on the Midland Highway near Oatlands yesterday, police said.

A 27-year-old West Launceston woman died in the crash.

Mr Ellis, 57, is expected to be moved from intensive care today after being involved in the fatal crash at Lovely Banks south of Oatlands at 6.15pm on Sunday.

The DPP and his wife, Guardianship Board president Anita Smith, 44, both of Mt Stuart, were hospitalised for injuries they received in the crash.

A Royal Hobart Hospital spokeswoman confirmed Mr Ellis had suffered a broken leg in the crash and his wife a broken collarbone.

Ms Smith is expected to be discharged from hospital today.

The crash occurred on a stretch of highway where there are two northbound lanes and one southbound lane separated by double continuous white lines.

In a statement, police said Mr Ellis's blue 2011 Mercedes sedan was on the wrong side of the road when the Mercedes and a white Toyota hatchback collided.

"The impact has resulted in the Mercedes veering into the western-most northbound lane, where it collided with the black Commodore sedan which was travelling northbound in the left of the two northbound lanes.

"The driver of the Commodore, a 23-year-old Rocherlea man, and his female passenger were not injured."

Accident investigators looking into the crash closed the Midland Highway until after midnight. It was also closed again today for about 30 minutes.

The crash takes the state's road toll to six -- equal to the toll at this time last year.

Police have appealed for any witnesses to the crash, or anyone who may have seen any of the vehicles before the incident, to come forward.

david.killick@news.com.au

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Traffic snarl on Tasman Hwy

POLICE have warned motorists to expect delays after a three-car crash on the Tasman Highway near Midway Point.

Police said the accident happened on the Midway Point bridge shortly after 5pm today, disrupting afternoon peak-hour traffic.

One person was taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

In a statement issued about 6pm today, police said both lanes of the highway at the crash scene were now open.

Westbound traffic heading to Hobart was moving normally, while traffic in the eastbound lane was moving more slowly.

Motorists travelling towards Midway Point and Sorell were expected to experience delays for some time.

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Voters turn against Labor

LABOR'S leadership fiasco has trashed the office of the Prime Minister, according to a majority of voters who have also declared Julia Gillard a "lame duck" leader.

In the first opinion poll to ask voters their verdict on the wreckage of Kevin Rudd's final leadership tilt, they have warned the Prime Minister's third leadership battle victory has not legitimised her.

A majority -- 60 per cent -- agree she is a "lame duck" in the lead-up to the September 14 election and 71 per cent believe the office of the Prime Minister has been damaged.

But voters questioned in the exclusive Galaxy poll, conducted for News Limited, are divided over whether an early election is the answer.

The vast majority of Liberal voters have had enough but 47 per cent of voters overall are happy to wait.

Support for Labor is at a rock bottom 32 per cent, a result that would see Ms Gillard lose up to 18 seats.

The Galaxy poll has found the majority of voters -- 52 per cent -- still believe the Labor Party made the wrong decision rejecting Mr Rudd.

Tomorrow, Ms Gillard is likely to announce her second major frontbench reshuffle in just seven weeks after four ministers were sacked or quit over the failed Rudd coup.

The fate of Aged Care Minister Mark Butler hung in the balance yesterday amid suggestions some senior frontbenchers were cautioning the Prime Minister against sacking him.

Gillard backers had been calling for Mr Butler's head with one describing him as "gutless" for not falling on his sword after he was linked to the Rudd camp but the Prime Minister praised him as an "able minister" at a press conference.

"I'll deal with the ministerial reshuffle in coming days," Ms Gillard said.

Another Rudd backer, Anthony Albanese, also broke his silence over claims he was Kevin Rudd's choice as deputy prime minister, acknowledging the former prime minister had been "supportive of my political contribution".

"(But) I have never asked for support as deputy. There was and is no vacancy," Mr Albanese said. "I would never run against Wayne Swan."

According to the Galaxy poll, which included a national sample of 1005 voters and was held over Friday and yesterday, a majority of voters -- 55 per cent -- also believe Mr Rudd has been true to his word not to challenge Ms Gillard.

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Help sought on hotel robbery

POLICE are seeking help from the public after an armed robbery at Moonah's Valern Hotel early yesterday morning.

Police said a masked man armed with a metal pole allegedly confronted a Valern Hotel employee at 1.45am and demanded money. The offender fled on foot with what police described as a "considerable amount" of cash.

Police searched the area but could not locate the alleged offender, who is described as being aged in his 30s, about 170cm tall, with olive or tanned skin, and blue or green eyes. He was wearing a balaclava, a hooded puffer jacket, black cargo pants, white sandshoes, and gloves.

Anyone with information about the alleged robbery, or who saw a man in the vicinity of Station St or the rear of the AMWU building around the time, is asked to call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000, or the Glenorchy police station.

kane.young@news.com.au

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Tigers tighten grip on trophy

TASMANIA is turning the screws and tightening its grip on the Sheffield Shield trophy against Queensland at Blundstone Arena.

At tea on day three the Bulls are 4-104, still 315 behind the Tigers' first innings score of 419.

Rain caused havoc earlier in the day, with a heavy downpour catching the umpires off guard and by the time the ground staff got the covers on the pitch a significant amount of water had soaked in.

It caused a two-hour delay, with play not resuming until 2.25.

The Tigers then continued to heap the pain on the visitors with some tight bowling.

It got too much for Nathan Reardon, who poked at a ball from Evan Gulbis and was caught behind for 13 to see the Bulls slip to 3-70.

That became 4-81 shortly after when Joe Burns was brilliantly caught by keeper Tim Paine.

Burns edged a Faulkner delivery, with Paine diving low to his right and plucking the chance just above the turf.

Peter Forrest is the only batsman who has showed dogged resistance to date, grinding his way to 42 while Chris Hartley is unbeaten on 10.

Queensland needs to push the pace of the game as it needs outright points but the Tigers have given little away, with only 44 runs being scored in just under two hours between lunch and tea.

Weather and light permitting, play will go to 7.15 tonight.

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Their hopes on a rope

DRAMA unfolds from the air in a unique acrobatic production that is in Hobart for Ten Days on the Island.

British aerial theatre company Ockham's Razor uses acrobatics to explores the highs and lows of relationships.

Ten Days on the Island artistic director Jo Duffy said the performance showed the trust, reliance and vulnerability between people working in the air.

"The performers portray recognisable experiences, emotions and conflicts that audiences can relate to, while at the same time taking patrons to the edge of their seats," Ms Duffy said.

The show opened last night at the Theatre Royal and will return today at 7.30pm.

For bookings, click here.

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