Four Murray Downs bowlers are daring to dream on the national stage, after competing in the Australian Championships men’s fours competition in Perth.
Josh Thornton, Brian Lehmann, John Caldwell and Garry McCaig won their way to the national titles after taking out the Victorian men’s fours title in April, with the quartet playing as the Victorian representatives.
Thornton, Lehmann, Caldwell and McCaig were scheduled to face teams from South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland yesterday, with their opening match against South Australia ending in a 19-12 defeat.
Win or lose, the four bowlers from Murray Downs are just happy to be there, with McCaig telling The Guardian this week that it was a dream come true from himself and his teammates.
“We’re all over the moon, I don’t think any of myself, Buck (Lehmann) or JC (Caldwell) thought we’d ever play at the national titles,” McCaig said.
“We’re just enjoying it, taking it all in our stride and we’ll just see what happens.
“We’re just going to give it a red-hot crack and if we win a game or two, then that’s great.
“But regardless of the result, we’ve achieved something we never thought we would, we’ll just do our best and hopefully that’s good enough.”
Thornton, who earlier this month won silver in the men’s singles B7/8 para national championships, was daring to dream, with the experienced bowler excited at the prospect of sharing the national stage with his clubmates.
“We’ll be coming up against some of the best bowlers in the country, but you never know, four country boys from Murray Downs might just pull it off,” Thornton said.
“To win would be incredible, it would be a win for the club and one for the area.
“It would nearly be the cherry on top in terms of what I’ve achieved in my career and I’ve achieved the highest success in both open and para bowls.
“But to do it with three other club mates, that would be amazing.
