Silver for WA Ladies

by Pieter Harris on November 6, 2018

Australian Senior Sides Championships Review

Despite some excellent performances WA has come up just short at the Australian Senior Sides Championships which concluded on the Copper Coast in South Australia yesterday.

The WA ladies had a brilliant tournament and despite a shock loss to Tasmania in round four had swept aside NT, Victoria, ACT, Qld, and South Australia going into the final round of competition. A win against NSW would have guaranteed a Gold medal whilst depending on other results, just the one rink win could have also done the job. NSW however had other plans and in a very tight contest on two of the rinks NSW managed to get the upper hand right over the late stages. Bev Baker’s side going down 14-16 whilst Kerry Andersen’s team played out the last end for WA but unfortunately couldn’t secure the title losing 17-18. NSW crowned champions winning on the final rink 29-14 against Noelene Abe with WA holding on for the Silver after ACT lost their final game against Queensland.

Whilst it was disappointing to drop the final match the WA Ladies can certainly be very proud of their efforts. Manager Sue Hogg was full of praise for the WA side who was forced into two last minute team changes with the passing of regular skip Lee Poletti’s husband just days before the event was to begin.

Safety Bay player Irene Arndt was crowned WA female player of the tournament winning the Beryl Brennan Award. She did a terrific job as lead for Noelene Abe as part of the best performed rink for WA with five wins across the seven match round robin event.

The WA Men also performed well in the event and finished with 15 rink wins the same as Victoria who took the title. Unfortunately WA lost three of its seven matches, day three proving the difference for the Men when one rink of each occasion cost them the aggregate against Tasmania and Queensland.

Manager Roger Barns said the WA Men were a credit to the state with their performances as all players contributed to a strong overall team performance. The rink of Gary Caffell, Steve O’Neill, Steve Cerff and Grant Nicol doing an exceptional job winning six of seven matches as the best performed rink for WA.

Doubleview’s Bernie McNamara (pictured left with Roger Barns) who was making his debut in state colours was announced the winner of the Barns/McKenzie Award as player of the series. Bernie was brilliant playing as a lead for Chris Lander’s rink and rarely had a bad bowl let alone a bad match. Both Bernie and Irene Arndt will receive their trophies at the Bowls WA Awards Night in May 2019.

Congratulations to the WA Players and support staff on their excellent efforts and for representing WA with pride at the Australian Senior Sides Championships 2018.

Full results of this event can be found on the Bowls Australia Competition Portal.

Live streaming replays can be found on the Bowls Australia Facebook Page.