› home

› current edition

› columnists

› distribution
  and outlets

› archived
  papers

› specifications

› contact details

› about us

October 06
Edition

Pages in PDF

Regular
Features

› The Fat Lady
  Sings
  with JoAnn Pacholli

› In Tents Thawt
  with Mick Pacholli

› Sid's Comments
  with Sidney
  Somerville-Smith

› The Lie Detector
  with Mitchell
   Faircloth

› Fab's Ravings

› Technology
  with Chris Jacobs

› Your Views

› The Artful Stock Picker
  with
  Peter Hegarty

› Marketing Advice
  with Andrew Hickinbotham

› Family Issues
  with
  Marilyn Brideson

› The Culture of Appearance
  with
  Suzanne Walker

› Gallery Gazing

› Planet Clare

› Lovatts
  Crossword

› Social Scene
  with Ken James

› Live Theatre
  with Blair Edgar

› Movie Scene
  with
  Marcus Sinclair

› Entertainment
  with Gary Turner

› Grazing in the
  Suburbs
  with Mick Pacholli

› Fab's Travel

› Talking Manure
  with Mick Pacholli

› Furry Friends
  with
  Dr Graeme Smith

› Racing
  with Ted Ryan

› Rant & Rave
  with
  Paddles Hackett

› Bowls
  with Mick Pacholli

› Motoring
  with Garry Fabian

› Short Cuts
  Writers
  Competition

› Competitions

Planet Bowls

with Mick Pacholli

Movements Afoot

That delightful young bowls scallywag Matty Kurta is joining the hippies down by the bay in St Kilda. This will be the lad’s second attempt in trying to help a Division 2 club up the ladder. Although they have lost a number of their top side players over the last couple of years, they have also picked up a few class bowlers, for example Darren Bond.

He will fit in well with the colourful membership at St Kilda and his aggressive style will certainly liven up their greens! Rumour has it that Lee Schraner is also parting with Bundoora to join Matt at St Kilda, wonder what’s happening there? Have the Bunnies come down with a case of mixo or something?

Barham GP

I have heard very little good news in the wake of the Victorian Grand Prix. Apparently it was one of the least pleasant, disorganised schmozzles put on by our Bowls Australia (BA) to date.

Inspiration to enter these events is certainly not sparked when qualifying players are told that they do not even appear on the BA radar and are there merely as cannon fodder for the national and State squads.

I believe that Bob Middleton had a go at Dave Donaldson. Middleton is reported to have said that Dave’s team of Dale Kett, Anthony Matheson and Anthony Hack were “…messing up a good tournament”. It inspired one spectator when told of this to make up a ‘We Love U DD’ banner to stick it up BA in the final, which of course Donaldson’s team won.

The poor sportsmanship shown by the national squads regarding the rule about following your bowl to the head caused a lot of friction amongst the qualifiers. The hot shots abused the rule regularly until, after a competitor protested, they were brought to heel. This high performance stuff certainly creates some dubious results in regards to gamesmanship; they need to be brought down a couple of pegs.

The timetable was thrown right out of whack by a lack of markers. Players were being held to ransom to play their rounds at extraordinary times. Players were dragged out at 9pm after starting their rounds at 8am - some even being asked to play at midnight in the rain. Ridiculous!

Maybe BA needs to offer incentives to the surrounding district clubs to come and mark so that there are ample markers to cater for the scheduled rounds. One poor fellow and his missus had to sleep in their car to play the following day as they had only budgeted for so many days.

To the Barham Services Bowls Club though, there is an overwhelming thumbs up! The locals did everything they could to ensure that, from at least their part, the bowlers’ necessities were catered for, including great greens. Maybe they should be left to do the organising next year!

Bob, old buddy, maybe it is time to head out to pasture. People who spend the time and money to enter and qualify for these events certainly need someone at the helm that is capable of doing a lot better than what happened this year.

World Series Bowls

This season St Kilda Bowling Club are launching the inaugural StKBC World Series Bowls! Ideally the participating teams would come from local businesses but it is also open to individual team entries.

The primary aim of the Cup is to introduce the addictive sport of lawn bowls to the wider community. The spin off may be more players to join the club for pennant competition.

The StKBC WSB should be seen as an opportunity for an inexpensive team building exercise in a very social non-threatening environment. The upfront cost of entry is $240 per team for the 9-week season. This equates to $6.66 per hour of riveting edge of the seat excitement for the combatants!

The competition will have 10 teams and will run for 9 weeks beginning on Tuesday 14 November … with a few weeks off in December for a religious festival … then resuming mid January. Matches will be played on Tuesday nights from 5.30pm to 7pm and will be of 10 ends. A maximum of one pennant player per team will be permitted to play and free coaching will be available ... probably bu that player!

A BBQ will also be put on and if they really feel the need for a drink, St Kilda Bowling Club has a fully licensed bar! This will be seen as another test of their eligibility for the St Kilda Bowling Club.

There will be a Grand Final at the end of the season to decide the overall winner. Prize money will be $500 for the winning team … but far more importantly they will be able to take home The Cup.

Please contact Rod Morgan on 0411 413 617 if you are interested in participating in this great new event.

Bowls Australia AGM

The annual general meeting of Bowls Australia will be held at the Hilton Hotel on Thursday the October 12 commencing at 2pm. I think I might wander along and have a look at the internal machinations of our national peak body.

If you have the time and you are an affiliated bowler it is your right to also attend this meeting. There are movements afoot to try and restrict affiliated members having voting rights in regards to all aspects of our game, so get along and have a vote and some input into the future of our game.

http://forums.bowlsworld.com.au

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/bowlsrental

Advertisers

Testimonials

Survey

Email Contacts