MURRAY Downs bowler Josh Thornton has been a driving force in the inaugural interstate para bowls test series between Victoria and NSW – both in organisation and on the greens.
Thornton was named Victorian player of the series for his outstanding performance at St Johns Park, in Sydney’s west, earlier this week.
Alongside teammates Josh Barry and Lucas Protopapas, the team became the first Victorian para bowling squad to defeat NSW in a test series, winning two tests to one.
Thornton said the side had to fight through a slow start in the first test.
“We didn’t start as good as we were hoping,” he said.
“We lost the triples first test in a convincing fashion, and of course that was the match that was live-streamed. After that we managed to turn the series all on its head.
“After turning it around and only narrowly losing that first test, we never really looked like losing for the rest of it.
“We won the second test three legs to zip, leaving us only having to win two out of three legs on Wednesday’s test.
“We came out guns blazing on Wednesday morning, I won the singles and then we won the pairs – we didn’t even need to play out the triples because we’d already had it all wrapped up.”
Thornton spoke highly of the opportunity to represent Victoria in para bowls.
“Winning was a great feeling, NSW are a very strong state in bowls,” he said.
“We knew that both states were going to be up for the challenge in the inaugural series, and I’m just very pleased that we came away with the win.
“Victoria and NSW is pretty up there when it comes to rivalries.
“For a Victorian side, that battle with NSW is always the most prominent – especially when it comes to bowls.
“We have such an iconic logo and branding here in Victoria, to be able to represent the Big V at para level is such a huge honour.”
The test series was the brainchild of Thornton and his good friend and fellow para bowler, NSW’s James Reynolds, pitting the two states against each other in singles, pairs and triples.
“James works for Bowls Australia and is a pathways coach for NSW, we’ve known each other since we were 16 years old,” Thornton said.
“He came to me about six months ago and asked why we haven’t held an interstate test series for para bowlers, and we were both really wanting to make it happen.
“James went to the Bowls NSW chief executive and I went to my boss at Bowls Victoria, we had an online meeting about the idea and now the rest is history.
“It aligns so well with the pathways of what we are doing with the sport, we came up with the format and it’s been a blast, everyone loved being involved.”
Following the success of the inaugural series, Thornton said the hype was already growing for another series following this year’s national championship.
“It’s really started the conversation and is already opening some doors,” he said.
“When I was in Queensland with the juniors, the Bowls Queensland president came up to me and let me know that they wanted in on the series.
“When we got the concept off the ground, I was really hoping other states would follow suit, and that looks like it’s going to happen.”
