VICTORIAN and New South Wales police bowlers shared in the success at the 63rd annual Australian Police Bowls Championship, held at Murray Downs last week.
The championship brought 172 bowlers, mainly former and some current police officers, from across Australia’s five mainland states to battle it out on the greens.
While NSW claimed the coveted sides competition, Victorian bowlers won the carnival’s singles and pairs competitions.
Murray Downs president Garry McCaig said 172 bowlers competed at a high standard.
“There were a lot of brilliant bowlers there, a lot of the guys play at the state or premier level,” he said.
McCaig singled out singles championship winner Gus Guy, who “bowled brilliantly”, as a stand-out performer during the carnival.
“He bowled well throughout the whole competition, but especially well in the singles series,” he said.
“He won 25-6, which is a huge win for the circumstances.”
Another highlight was a marathon of a match in the pairs competition, where Victoria’s Doug Woods and Ed Selwyn defeated their NSW counterparts 14-12 after 18 ends.
McCaig said the state rivalry added a bit of edge to the already-close match.
“The game of pairs, which the Vics won against NSW, was a fantastic game,” he said.
“I think there’s definitely a bit of rivalry between those two sides, just like in everything else.
“The game went for ages, it was the last thing to finish. Dougy, the Victorian skipper, was putting down some incredible bowls toward the end of that match.”
But McCaig said NSW got their revenge in the sides competition.
“The sides is what everyone comes to win, and the Victorian team went down by just eight shots to NSW.
“It was a really good game, but I think NSW just had that bit more depth.
“The way the games were played was all in the right spirit. All of the bowlers would say that everyone there is the same, the only difference is the colour of uniform they’ve got on.”
McCaig said Murray Downs and the Victoria Police Bowling Club had been working on the event for more than two years and thanked everybody who had a part to play in the carnival.
“The support we got from Murray Downs and the businesses around town and the shire was just tremendous,” he said.
“Our members try to take on all the things they can’t do while they’re out on the greens.
“If we can put in 110 per cent and help everything go right, that can really make the difference between a good and a bad carnival.”
