Weekly Region Wrap: Gippsland Bowls Region
“Each club has put a premium on attracting players and improved the overall quality of the sides,” says Brad Lancaster, Lakes Entrance Bowls Club.
For the first time, the Gippsland Bowls Region has introduced a Premier Division to its pennant season. This is a change from the previous seasons 14 team Division 1 section, which involved a 2nd through to 5th elimination final. Last season Paynesville won from 5th place and played in State Pennant Championships.
The new Premier competition has provided each club with a home and away game in the season, and allows each club to play each other twice, something not possible in the 14 team competition. Also, they’re one of the only regions doing live scoring for their entire premier comp.
“5 years ago we decided we’d run a region wide division 1 competition. We put out an expression of interest and 14 teams put forward their interest, which made the 14 team division 1 competition. After 2 years we decided to take the top 8 sides to form the premier comp,” Brad tells BV.
In previous seasons, bigger clubs such as Lakes Entrance and Sale had their best players split across 2 sides. Since the formation of Premier division, the bigger clubs have been able to field their best players in 1 side, while the smaller clubs have attracted more talent to bolster their premier division side.
“The main change is that the bigger clubs are restricted to one side in the premier division. This has put a premium on attracting players and improved the overall quality of the sides. A great example is Metung, who are a small club, and they’ve attracted a lot of players to play for them in premier,” says Brad.
In the inaugural Premier division competition, Sale currently sit on top of the ladder undefeated. Lakes Entrance sit in 2nd place with 4 wins and 1 loss, while Bairnsdale and Stratford round out the top 4. Lakes Entrance have combined their two previous sides into one, and have bolstered itself with 2 new skips.
“We’re in a rebuilding phase to make the side more competitive. We’re still working out everybody’s personal tendencies with two new skips. I feel really positive for the season ahead and we’ve got a lot of players in our other sides knocking on the door to make the premier side. We’ve got a lot of growth ahead of us,” says Brad.
“Bairnsdale and Sale are going to be our biggest competition, but all of the teams have attracted good players this year, so it’s going to be a very competitive season. We’re keeping our eyes on Metung, who have recruited a lot of players and are looking very competitive.”
The Weekly Region Wrap is a new weekly feature of Regional Victorian Pennant. If you have an interesting region story and photo, please send it to cooper@bowlsvic.org.au
