IF it wasn’t for a quick-thinking phone call and an ounce of luck, four Murray Downs bowlers may not have become the Victorian State Fours Champion of Champions last Sunday.
Such was the surprise that Murray Downs’ Garry “Shorty” McCaig, Buck Lehmann, John Caldwell and Josh Thornton had survived the opening day, the quartet had to hastily find accommodation.
Everyone, including themselves, expected bags to be packed, ready to head home, after the first day of competition.
Not only did the Murray Downs champions make it through to the knockout finals, but they would go on to win the state title, defeating the traditionally-strong Geelong combination by one shot on the last end.
Team skipper Josh Thornton spoke with The Guardian after their momentous victory, with the win still clearly sinking in several days later.
“It’s still hard to fathom to be honest, it’s such a big thrill for all of us and such a big thrill for the club as a whole,” Thornton said.
“We never would have imagined this would be possible, especially against some of the best bowlers in the state.
“Greg Roberts has been a massive supporter of the bowls club and if it wasn’t for him and the club in general, then we wouldn’t be able to accomplish what we’ve done, along with the rest of the Murray bowlers in general.”
The quartet qualified for the finals after defeating West Coast and the highly fancied Bendigo on Saturday, with the unheralded combination making the remaining teams sit up and take notice with such a dominant win over the hosts that the last end wasn’t even required.
A similar fate befell Eastern Ranges in the semi-finals, before the final against Geelong, which came down to the final bowl of the tournament.
The win now gives McCaig, Lehmann, Caldwell and Thornton the chance to compete at the National Championships, which will be held this year in Perth during October, with Thornton confident he and his teammates will do the region proud on the biggest stage of all.
“Murray Mallee as a region don’t have a big history of winning state championships at this level traditionally,” Thornton said.
“It’s been a really good year for us though, with Norm Smith also winning the over 60s championship, which was amazing – but an actual open state championship hasn’t been won by a team for our region in a long time.
“It’s a really good accomplishment and something I think we’ll all look back on with pride, but now we shift our focus to Perth.
“We’ll head over there confident that our best is good enough to compete with the best, but it’s all about replicating that form in October to give ourselves the best chance to win a national title now.”
It was a big week for Thornton in particular, with the Commonwealth Games gold medallist also winning the state disability pairs with Swan Hill Racecourse’s DJ Weaver, along with the state disability singles title.
Thornton and Weaver, who won the title in 2021, were unable to defend their title last year due to the Commonwealth Games trials.
But with the pair joining forces once again, they proved unstoppable, beating Warrnambool’s Grant Gibson and Rosebud’s Graham Smith by five shots in the final.
“DJ bowled fantastically all week – while it wasn’t formally back-to-back, it was back-to-back for us, which was great,” Thornton said.
“I had to play DJ on the way to the singles final and he pushed me all the way to the final end and should be really proud of what he was able to achieve over the week as well.”
As for the last-minute dash for accommodation for his teammates, it’s fair to say there was no more relieved person that Thornton himself that it all worked out in the end.
“I was OK, because I was staying down there with work, but for the other boys it was a mad scramble,” Thornton said.
“They got on the phone straight away and ended up in the same rooms from Friday night, which was lucky because accommodation was scarce.
“It would have been a bit tight squeezing all four of us into my room on Saturday night and having to top and tail in one bed, that’s for sure!”
