2024 Men’s and Women’s Open Team Squads Announced
The State Selection Panel have selected the Men’s and Women’s Open Team Squads for the 2024 Nationals at Tweed Heads Bowling Club in October.
After coming third in the 2023 Nationals, the Men have a number of players from last year’s team unavailable for selection. Cody Packer has moved to New South Wales and Daniel Trewhella, Shane Knott, and Blake Butler are all unavailable for selection this year. For the women, all of last year’s team have put their hand up for selection.
Both the Men and Women welcome some worthy first-time squad members, as well as some returning members.
Shane Giudice-Nairn (Geraldton) and Joel Leeson (Denison) have been rewarded for their outstanding play over the last couple of years. Both players have been valuable members of their Blitz teams since the start of the Blitz competition, and have been strong Countryweek performers over the last few years. This season they capped it off with their first State Title by taking out the State Fours in October.
Andrew Drayton had a strong year pennant year with his new club Cambridge in the Metro Premier League. Traveling to Perth from Augusta every Saturday, Andrew has been a strong Country Round-Robin and Country versus Metro player for many years.
Cameron Green (Mt Lawley) and Nathan Jones (Manning) continue to develop their games. Cameron has been knocking on the door of squad selection for the last couple of years after showing great development in the BWA Academy. Nathan recently won the State Triples and has been a member of the strong Manning Premiership teams in the past. A natural sportsman, Nathan will bring great leadership to a squad we expect will continue to improve.
Matthew Mitchell (Emu Point) has made himself available for selection this year. Matthew has been outstanding the last couple of years and as a previous state team member, brings a lot of experience back into the squad.
200-game state player, Kyle Mcilroy has also rejoined the squad after finding a new lease of life this season. A valuable member of this season’s Premier League winning team, Doubleview, Kyle has also shown up in the backend of a number of state events the last two seasons.
In the Women’s Squad, we have two first-timers. Sharon Lynch has contributed a lot to the Manning Premier League Flags the last couple of years and this year had an outstanding season as a third in a super strong Manning team.
Debbie Saunders, has honed her consistency over the last couple of years and is currently a valuable member of the BWA Academy. Debbie’s dedication has been second to none and some very good state event efforts have seen Debbie make her way into the State Squad.
Robyn O’Brien (Manning) and Shari Solly (Osborne Park) have returned to the squad after being unavailable last year. Both are former State Team members and will be pushing hard to rejoin the team at selection time.
| Men’s Squad Name | Club | Women’s Squad Name | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clive Adams | Cambridge | Chris Ace-Watson | Mosman Park |
| Russell Bates | Doubleview | Donna Blackwell | Mt Pleasant |
| Mitchell Biglin | South Perth | Lisa Brannan | Mt Pleasant |
| Bill Brandsma | Kalamunda | Lisa Featherby | Mosman Park |
| David Downey | Manning | Denise Kelly | Mosman Park |
| Andrew Drayton | Cambridge | Kristina Krstic | Manning |
| Jack East | Osborne Park | Sharon Lynch | Manning |
| Shane Giudice-Nairn | Geraldton | Amanda Masters | Osborne Park |
| Cameron Green | Mount Lawley | Jenni McLaughlin | North Beach |
| Cameron Harris | Cambridge | Robyn O’Brien | Manning |
| Warren Holt | Wagin | Hailey Packer | Manning |
| Nathan Jones | Manning | Jenny Parker | Mosman Park |
| Joel Leeson | Denison | Debbie Saunders | Cambridge |
| Ben Leggett | Mount Lawley | Lisa Smith | Perth & Tatts |
| Kyle Mcilroy | Doubleview | Shari Solly | Osborne Park |
| Matthew Mitchell | Emu Point | Helen Stevens | Osborne Park |
| Blake Nairn | Cambridge | Kaitlin Tyrrell | Manning |
| Scott Walker | South Perth | Linda Warburton | Brunswick |
| Brad White | Doubleview | Lexie Webster | Safety Bay |
| Anthony Williams | Doubleview |
