Update 26^th February 2014.

Comment on Bowls   by Denis Duffy.

As Bowls followers battled the horrendous gales to locate a worthwhile spectacle last weekend, probably very few thought to stop off at the abandoned top green at Takaro. If they had, they would have observed our Commonwealth Games players, Barry Wynks and Mark Noble, hard at work for hours on end as they gradually master the skills they will require. A very different mindset, backed up by distinctly different skills, is required to be competitive on the rough, lead-heavy and at times under-prepared greens that most countries in the world strangely choose to play on. It was encouraging to hear that Mark and Barry were joined at the weekend by Wellington’s Lisa White, a member of our Women’s Team, who was in the squad that journeyed to Glasgow to experience the foreign conditions in recent months. Sharon Sims is also giving generously of her time and ‘knowhow’. To be able to tap into the experience of a local player who has managed to earn medals in top Northern Hemisphere competition must be a big advantage. Centre President Phil Skoglund battled greens like these at Edmonton in 1978, leading to his biographer later being threatened with a libel suit for honestly reporting his opinion of the local surfaces! It’s comical now to read in ‘Mr Bowls’, the biography of Phil’s uncle T.T. Skoglund, how this country sent a team in total ignorance and completely unprepared to the Vancouver Empire Games of 1954. New Zealanders played on lightning-fast grass greens in those days, and our team were totally bewildered to find themselves competing on vast swards composed of something vaguely resembling buffalo grass.

The major fixtures of the weekend were of course the Hexagonal for Men and Women, which was endorsed by players and officials and will be continued into the future. The performance of both our teams was simply outstanding. The Women proved themselves equal to the powerful Wellington side and the Men just got home ahead of Wanganui, while both left the other four Centres battling for the minor places. The Men’s Singles players, Shane Rogers and Darryl Johnson, must deserve special mention for their lion-hearted exhibitions of skill and tenacity in seriously adverse conditions, finishing with a scarcely believable nine wins and a narrow loss from ten starts. Darryl’s immaculate weight control and Shane’s ability to fight back from substantial deficits were a highlight, but the combined achievement of both teams was huge. Then came the difficult process for the respective selectors of cutting back their successful teams to the seven players required. Viv Lozell’s Women’s team looks strong and experienced, with an in-form Feona Sayles providing the spearhead in the Singles. The Men’s side is a conservative selection by Terry Puklowski, who has preferred  to call on the vast top-level experience of Philip Skoglund in the Singles, rather than gambling on Shane Rogers being able to step up to an even higher plane. Shane will be disappointed, but he’s in the team, and both Men and Women have the firepower to pull off a big result.

This weekend sees another chapter of the very successful Hospice Tournament at Northern with its associated auctions and raffles which Barry Gush continues to organise and run so well. If readers not already involved are keen to participate in any way in this worthy event, they should contact Barry or the Northern Club, even at this late stage.

Denis Duffy

Thanks Denis.

Update 4th February 2014

Comment on Bowls   by Denis Duffy.

Four Manawatu bowlers are set to strike out into missionary territory when they take up an invitation to visit Hong Kong next month before penetrating the Chinese mainland to further test their skills. The unique opportunity came about through past contacts made by Centre President Phil Skoglund. Vern Sixtus, Willie Young, Paul Joe and Stu McGrail will discover that Bowls is strong and well established somewhere among the concrete canyons of Hong Kong, and might also find the ‘skins’ format which they are asked to play quite a challenge. Nobody that I asked had more than a vague idea of what it entails! The Chinese leg of the trip is even more mysterious, as Bowls is hardly a significant sport in those regions. I seem to recall local Singles exponent John Davies once being selected to compete in Korea, where he found the greens a bit different to say the least, but China seems to be virgin territory.

The first Champion of Champions winners were found at the weekend with Bev Budd winning the Women’s Singles for Terrace End, and Darryl Johnson snaring the title that Himatangi Beach have been threatening to win by taking out the Men’s event. Bev is of course a local legend,  and was close to the elusive Singles double, having been narrowly beaten by Noeleen Elston in the earlier Open event. Darryl has a strong background in the uber-competitive Auckland Centre, and was unlucky to run second to Ray Lovie a year or two ago in a Singles final played in winds varying from gale to hurricane force at Northern. The Triples finals will be played next weekend and could well prove to be a bonanza for the smaller clubs with Dannevirke and Hokowhitu both featuring. As well, all eyes will be on Scotty McGavin, who gets a big chance to finally shed the bridesmaid tag and win a title for Bulls if he can subdue a steady Hokowhitu side in the Men’s final. The same Palmerston North Men’s Triple that made the national play-offs in Invercargill last year fell to Takaro in the first round, with a huge final bowl by Takaro Skip ‘Trunky’ Johnson later just failing to deny Bulls their place in the final. As the Champion of Champions events play out, it’s relevant to bear in mind that this is the second year since these events have been used to decide who gets to progress regionally and nationally under the ‘pathways’ concept. Many, if not most other Centres use Open events to find these winners, and it’s likely there will be further debate on the issue when the Bowls Manawatu AGM rolls around.

It’s not often that a twelve year old wins a Senior club title, but that’s what happened when Murray Wilson recently found himself in the winner’s circle at Takaro as part of the Barry Wynks Four. This will be an interesting team to watch when they compete at centre level shortly.  

Denis Duffy

Thanks Denis.

Update 7^th January 2014

Comment on Bowls   by Denis Duffy.

Sophie Fisher’s selection in leadership positions within the New Zealand age group women’s team to travel to the Trans-Tasman in March is the first national recognition to come the way of a Manawatu player in quite some time. Sophie is very much a model for the younger brigade in New Zealand Bowls in terms of both ability and general demeanour. Her selection also amounts to a well deserved recognition of the Himatangi Beach club. This little club on the fringe of the Centre area has staged a spirited revival of numbers and enthusiasm in recent seasons, and as more of their members participate in Centre events, their playing strength is growing rapidly.

The annual Inter-Centre Quadrangular was staged by Kapiti over last weekend. The Manawatu men’s and women’s teams both performed solidly without being able to seriously challenge the dominance by Wellington, always the team to beat in this event. The women were always competitive, but couldn’t find the consistency  to challenge a formidable Wellington side, who won comfortably. A 21-5 Singles win by Mere Fryer was a highlight, but selector Viv Lozell was left with plenty to think about before the crucial hexagonal event here in the Manawatu at the end of February. Playing numbers selected for that fixture will reduce from 14 to 10. The men’s performance was similar, with Wellington again occupying the winner’s circle. Shane Rogers, having served a period of penance for past indiscretions, impressed in his Singles berth, beating Wellington’s youthful star Euan Wong. Pat Horgan’s Four led the way though, with a dramatic seven shot haul on the final end allowing them to douse Wellington and complete an unbeaten outing. In the Horgan team, Graeme Cooley was outstanding, Chris Barrett as steady as ever, and Dean Gilshinan may well be ready now for a move to one of the other disciplines, with greater responsibility and more bowls to use.

Brian Little’s well performed Palmerston North side coasted into post-section play at the Taranaki Open, only to be decisively beaten first-up by ex-Manawatu man Dean Elgar, now playing out of West End. The Elgar team included last year’s Manawatu representative lead, Cameron Nairne. Cameron was impressive throughout the tournament playing at no 2 for Elgar. He is a young player with real promise and will surely be seen in action in Taranaki colours in the forthcoming Hexagonal. The strong Takaro outfit skipped by Mark Noble also disappeared in the first round when they allowed a team from the faraway Sunshine Coast to somehow run them down from behind over the last few ends. The well performed Settle brothers from Hinuera won the iconic event after foul weather forced the final to be shifted after 15 ends to the indoor facility at Paritutu – a real challenge for the players and an unprecedented situation. Brian Little’s team lost a final played entirely indoors, but this interrupted one finally finished around 7.30pm.

Denis Duffy

Thanks Denis.

Update 7^th January 2014

Happy New Year everyone.

Sadly, I understand that the Centre Any Gender Triples scheduled for Anniversary weekend has been abandoned due to a lack of entries.

Good bowling to those of you who are taking part in the Hokowhitu Classic.

Bowling On has a successor!

Comment on Bowls   by Denis Duffy.

I’ve agreed to write regularly about our sport at least till the end of this season. Most of us are only too well aware of the huge problems Bowls now faces, primarily in the form of the seemingly unstoppable slipping away of membership numbers and consequently tournament entries throughout the country. My two predecessors in this role have spent time analysing these crucial issues very accurately and searching for solutions which sadly remain elusive. I intend to ignore that particular ‘elephant in the room’ and focus on many of the very positive aspects of the game that we all enjoy at various levels and for various reasons. It’s just a real shame that so many sports- minded people haven’t yet realised the challenges available in Bowls and continue to undervalue it.

The recently completed Men’s Open Pairs experimented with a timing and format which worked very well. Full marks to the Centre Executive! I remain hooked on the two-life system, but this event offered five substantial matches to every entrant and, when the ‘nitty-gritty’ came around, a credible format for the knockout stages. I applaud the seeding of the draw, which gave the best performed teams a possible edge in the knockout draw. Pat Horgan, Terry Johnson and partners may not agree, as both disappeared immediately, but it’s that vulnerability of the top players that keeps the lesser lights out there trying! The defending Horgan/Gilshinan combination in particular drew a real ‘banana-skin’ game against very dangerous locals Brian Looker and Scruff Anderson who had sneaked in as bottom qualifiers. The ultimate victory to our recently ordained Commonwealth Games reps in Barry Wynks and Mark Noble was a fine and timely achievement. Mark is now really starting to show us why he is one of the most decorated bowlers in the history of the Wellington centre, while Barry brings his unique brand of cunning and intense competitiveness to the game. No detail relative to the green, his opponents or his own performance escapes Barry, and I’m sure he will go on to add multiple bars to his Gold Star in the future.

Results from the Nationals become more ignored by the media every year with the finals of Singles and Pairs not rating a mention on TV1 News and being drowned by cricket on radio.  Feona Sayles was there though, and once again she featured in the latter stages of both Singles and Pairs. Well done, Feona! It was great to see teenage finalists, even if both lost, in the Men’s and Women’s Singles.  Ali Forsyth’s third Singles victory, thanks to a sensational last bowl, provides further proof that he has an all-round game at at a high enough level to put him already somewhere amongst our best ever players. Three Singles titles now puts him equal to Professor Maxwell Walker, but still two adrift of our own Phil Skoglund.

That uniquely appealing tournament, the Taranaki Open Fours, is now on the horizon, and I know the organisers are very disappointed to have dropped another twenty teams in a year where they hoped to capitalise on hosting last year’s Nationals. Manawatu is sending nine teams and two have a big chance. Takaro’s Wynks and Noble, with the two Terrys, Curtis and Rossiter, fell only at the semi-final stage last year to Brian Little’s Palmerston North team who have reached two finals in the last three years. Both are returning intact and with intent!

Manawatu Men’s selector Terry Puklowski, has yet to finalise his teams for the Quadrangular at Kapiti later this month, but Viv Lozell has announced the following Women’s teams.

A Team: Mere Fryer in Singles. Sheryn Blake and Georgie Kahui-Rogers in Pairs, Chris Quinn, Liz Rossiter, Tina Vartha and Lynlea Rogers in Fours.

B Team: Janeen Noble in Singles, Anna Davis and Juliette Mills in Pairs, Sue Meyer Julie Palmer, Jacinta Cousins and Robyn McGregor in Fours.

Denis Duffy

Thanks Denis.