Echuca’s midweek bowls grand final winners will look to defend their title in the 2024-25 season. Photos: Aidan Briggs
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Midweek and weekend bowls pennants are back for the Campaspe Playing Area for another season of competition and fun.
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The midweek division one pennant will begin on Tuesday, October 15, at various venues.
Competition heavyweights Echuca and Moama will battle in a grand final rematch to open the midweek pennant at 10am at Echuca Bowls Club.
Elsewhere, Rich River will take on Rochester at the same time at Rochester Bowls Club and Mathoura will visit Deniliquin at Deniliquin Bowling Club.
The Moama Steamers were the dominant force during the regular season for 2023-24, winning 12 games while only losing and drawing one.
Yet, when it came to the biggest moment, they faltered and lost to Echuca in the grand final.
Moama’s Marilyn Stephenson was the top-ranked bowler in the midweek pennant by last season’s end.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
The Steamers had four of the top five ranked players in the competition last year with Marilyn Stephenson ranked as the best player, and Helen Holzer, Robyn Thomassen and Ronald Bunting ranking third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Echuca was a comfortable second with a record of 8-5-1 but remained within striking distance of the Steamers to dethrone them at the finish line.
Echuca’s best player, Kristy Gillingham, was ranked sixth in the competition and is the only player for them that appeared in the top 10.
Rochester and Rich River finished at the bottom of the table last season, ending in fifth and sixth position respectively.
Yet, the difference between them was severe, Rochester won seven games last season while Rich River failed to win a single one, ending 0-13.
Richard Feuk bowls for Rochester in the midweek pennant.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Needless to say, neither side made the finals series and will look for redemption in 2024-25.
Interestingly, Rich River’s highest rated player was Eugene Xodo, who ranked 24th in the competition, while Rochester’s best player was Heather Curnick at 34.
The weekend pennant division one competition gets under way on Saturday, October 12.
Similarly to the midweek, Echuca and Moama Steamers will open their seasons against each other at Moama Bowling Club at 1.30pm.
Rich River will travel to Deniliquin for their first-round match-up while Rochester and Tongala will host Mathoura and Stanhope for their matches, respectively.
Tongala’s Bradley Tinning was the highest-ranked bowler in the weekend pennant last season.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
The Steamers finished on top of the competition with a record of 9-5, with Tongala (8-5) and Mathoura (9-5) rounding out the top three.
Echuca (7-6-1), Rich River (5-8-1) and Rochester (5-8-1) finished last season in fifth, sixth and seventh positions respectively, with all of them missing the finals’ series.
Tongala and Mathoura battled it out for the championship in the grand final where Mathoura ultimately claimed the top prize.
Tongala had four of the best ranked five players in the tournament, Bradley Tinning ended last summer in top spot.
Brian Franklin was the Steamers’ highest-ranked player in seventh while James Ferrier was Echuca’s highest representative in 14th.
Dawn McCulloch bowls a beauty for Rich River.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Robert Clayton doesn't feature on this list until 32, where he appears as Rochester’s highest player and Rich River’s Elizabeth Easther appears two spots later in 34th.
Regardless of last season’s results, all teams in the midweek and weekend division one pennants will be looking to bowl its way to glory this summer.
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