MVPA DIVISION 1 WEEKEND PENNANT
BOWLS PREVIEW
WITH the Murray Valley Playing Arena Weekend Pennant competition set to get under way this Saturday afternoon, The Guardian has taken an in-depth look at the six Division 1 teams that will do battle in 2024-25 – with the new Northern Valley competition set to cause a massive shake-up for all teams.
LAKE BOGA
CHAIRPERSON: Grant Davies
LAST SEASON: Semi-finalist
INS: Wayne Wright (Sea Lake), Mick Tempini (Murray Downs)
OUTS: Peter Philp (Nyah District), Rod Wickham (Lake Boga), Greg Davis (Nyah District)
2024-25 SKIPPERS: To be determined
WORD FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
GRANT DAVIES
What are your expectations for this season? It will be interesting to see how the season unfolds with the new competition taking the best bowlers from Murray Downs and Racecourse away. In my eyes, the Division 1 pennant competition will even up. Although we beat both of them last year, both Murray Downs and Racecourse were hard to beat, more so Murray Downs. Where that leaves us, I expect us to be very competitive, but until we see what other players the other clubs have picked up, I’m not sure, but we’ll certainly be in there and trying to win.
Other than yourselves, who is the team to beat? Both Murray Downs and Racecourse will still be pretty tough to beat because they have a good depth of club members to pick from. They won’t be a walkover by any means.
What impact do you think the new Northern Valley pennant competition will have on the MVPA Division 1 pennant competition? For the social bowler that enjoys playing pennant, I don’t think it will make much difference. For the clubs that are trying to attract the top players to the district or to their club, there might be a bit of improvement there, but for those that just enjoy the social side of pennant, I don’t think it will change much for them.
If we are to win the premiership, it will be because of … “consistency and teamwork.”
The Final Word: Having played finals the past two seasons, Lake Boga look set to be one of the main beneficiaries of the new Northern Valley competition, with Murray Downs and Racecourse first teams departures opening up the MVPA Division 1 competition for everyone else. Although Lake Boga have lost three players to rivals Nyah District, the return of Mick Tempini and recruitment of Wayne Wright should mean they are once again playing finals.
MOULAMEIN
CHAIRPERSON: Martin Stephens
LAST SEASON: Preliminary Finalist
INS: Ross Burmeister (Wakool)
OUTS: None
2024-25 SKIPPERS: To be determined
WORD FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
MARTIN STEPHENS
What are your expectations for this season? We want to go further than last year, that’s for sure. We have unfinished business you could say. Last year will also hold us in good stead because we hadn’t played finals for a couple of years and now we’ve had a bit of a taste of what’s required.
Other than yourselves, who is the team to beat? Racecourse is always competitive and Nyah District have by all accounts recruited a few players so I’d expect that they will push for finals, and then Murray Downs of course, because they’ve always had very good depth.
What impact do you think the new Northern Valley pennant competition will have on the MVPA Division 1 pennant competition? Our only concern is if Murray Downs or Racecourse start getting close to finals or they can’t make finals in the new competition, we just hope they don’t start dropping players back.
If we are to win the premiership, it will be because of … “consistency. All we need is consistency, we know we’re good enough to win it, we just didn’t play well on enough on the day when it counted most.”
The Final Word: Moulamein will go into season 2024-25 as one of the teams to beat according to most of their rivals, having gone so close to toppling Murray Downs and Racecourse last season. With both clubs forced to bring their Division 2 teams up to the top level this season, Moulamein will go in confident of breaking their long-standing premiership drought, after keeping the bulk of last year’s team together for another tilt at the title.
MURRAY DOWNS
CHAIRPERSON: Garry McCaig
LAST SEASON: Premiers
INS: Les McPhee, Mardene de Villiers, Riaan de Villiers
OUTS: Mick Tempini (Lake Boga), Peter Brook (Berriwillock), Matt O’Bree
2024-25 SKIPPERS: P.Furnell, D.Uebergng, L.McPhee
WORD FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
GARRY McCAIG
What are your expectations for this season? I expect us to be very competitive. We won’t be far away again even though it will be our Division 2 team from last season coming up to play.
Other than yourselves, who is the team to beat? I think the strongest team in the Murray Valley competition will be Moulamein. They played off in the finals last year and they weren’t far away, and with us and Racecourse moving up, they will be tough to beat.
What impact do you think the new Northern Valley pennant competition will have on the MVPA Division 1 pennant competition? I think it will make the standard of the Murray Valley competition more even across the board. There were teams like Swan Hill, Lake Boga and Nyah District, they weren’t quite competitive enough to play us or Racecourse, but now that those two teams have gone, it will certainly even up the standard.
If we are to win the premiership, it will be because of … “consistency. We think we have a fairly even group and they can all bowl, it’s just a matter of getting the job done on the day like any other sport.”
The Final Word: Having won the past three premierships, it will be a vastly different Murray Downs team that will take to the rinks this season, with their No.1 team now playing in the newly formed Northern Valley competition. With that said, the Rams’ depth right throughout their club is the best of any, which means they will still be one of the teams to beat.
NYAH DISTRICT
CHAIRPERSON: Kent Coburn
LAST SEASON: Sixth
INS: Peter Philp (Lake Boga), Rod Wickham (Lake Boga), Greg Davis (Lake Boga), Clint Norris
OUTS: Rex Howard (Murray Downs)
2024-25 SKIPPERS: Bryan Smith, Peter Philp, Bruce MacDonald
WORD FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
KENT COBURN
What are your expectations for this season? I think we can push for finals and I’d be happy if we won 50 per cent of our games. Whether that’s good enough to get us into finals, we’ll have to wait and see. If we were to win half our games we’d be very happy.
Other than yourselves, who is the team to beat? Murray Downs and Racecourse will still be very strong in the first division, but I think the other teams like Moulamein and Lake Boga will be confident of going well this season.
What impact do you think the new Northern Valley pennant competition will have on the MVPA Division 1 pennant competition? We’re optimistic with the new super league that we’ll be more competitive, we’ve been a very successful club in the past and the last few years have been very hard. I’m glad that we stayed in the first division, we did consider dropping down a grade but most of our bowlers enjoying playing against the better bowlers.
If we are to win the premiership, it will be because of … “a lot of hard work put in by our bowlers to improve across the course of the season.”
The Final Word: Four key inclusions, including three from Lake Boga, has the Demons well placed to start climbing up the Saturday pennant ladder this season. Peter Philp will be a huge inclusion and will take on one of the skipper roles alongside Bryan Smith and Bruce MacDonald, with Nyah District now a team not to be taken lightly by any opponent.
RACECOURSE
CHAIRPERSON: Norm Smith
LAST SEASON: Runners-up
INS: Danny Mitchell, Luke Roberts (Murray Roberts)
OUTS: None
2024-25 SKIPPERS: Brian Bice, Neville Smith, David McCarron
WORD FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
NORM SMITH
What are your expectations for this season? We’re going to be competitive in all the grades, where we end up might be another thing, but we’ll have a very competitive team. Our Division 2 team is pretty happy to be going up to Division 1.
Other than yourselves, who is the team to beat? Moulamein will be the team to beat I feel and I think Swan Hill will be right up there too. They may not have a large number of players at the moment, but their No.1 side will be very competitive all the same.
What impact do you think the new Northern Valley pennant competition will have on the MVPA Division 1 pennant competition? All the teams will be a lot more competitive within themselves. Moulamein will be hard to beat but our blokes will be very competitive all the same.
If we are to win the premiership, it will be because of … “the depth of our club. We have a lot of players that can play a high standard of bowls and I’d be disappointed if we didn’t make the top four in the MVPA this season.”
The Final Word: Having finished runners-up to Murray Downs over the past two seasons, Racecourse will be hoping to go one better in 2024-25. That will be no mean feat, however, with their No.1 team playing alongside Murray Downs in the new Northern Valley competition. Like the Rams, the Green and Gold Army have good depth within their ranks, which should ensure they are more than competitive against the likes of Moulamein and Lake Boga, with anything less than a finals berth still expected come season’s end.
SWAN HILL
CHAIRPERSON: Mick Balchin
LAST SEASON: Fifth
INS: Josh Oliver (Tooleybuc), Anthony Shields (Lake Boga), Sally Meehan (Lake Boga), Robbie Shields
OUTS: None
2024-25 SKIPPERS: Greg Scandolera, Brian Richardson, Glenn Evans
WORD FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
MICK BALCHIN
What are your expectations for this season? Now that the two top teams have gone south, I think that will even out the competition a bit better, which will make us a bit more viable and competitive. We’d like to make the four for a start and then we’ll just work on what happens after that.
Other than yourselves, who is the team to beat? Not sure what Moulamein have done over the off-season but they’ll be pretty handy. Racecourse will still be competitive with their next team up and Murray Downs will be the same.
What impact do you think the new Northern Valley pennant competition will have on the MVPA Division 1 pennant competition? I think it will help level out the competition for the remaining clubs. I think it will be a bit more competitive which can only be a positive.
If we are to win the premiership, it will be because of … “our recruits who will give us a handy boost, along with everyone applying themselves and working hard to get us the results.”
The Final Word: After missing finals last season, Swan Hill look set for a resurgence of sorts with the inclusion of four key bowlers this season. Josh Oliver (Tooleybuc), Anthony Shields (Lake Boga), Sally Meehan (Lake Boga) and Robbie Shields all arrived at the club and should help improve the Swans’ depth – but whether it’s enough to return them to the top four remains to be seen.
