MURRAY Downs and Racecourse will renew their rivalry in the opening round of the new Northern Valley Saturday pennant competition this Saturday.
Having played off in the past two MVPA Division 1 grand finals, both Murray Downs and Racecourse’s top teams will now play in the newly formed league, which also features the four top teams from the Northern District Playing Area.
With an air of excitement surrounding the new league’s first season, it will be old foes who will lock horns before they begin battling against new rivals.
Racecourse president Norm Smith told The Guardian his team was looking forward to another tussle against their long-time adversaries.
“We’re hoping we can get our season off to a good start and we’re all pretty keen to get out there and get into it,” Smith said.
“Being a grand final rematch against the old rivals, it gives us that little bit of extra motivation to do well I suppose.
“If we all play to our best, we’ll give ourselves a good chance and with a bit of luck, we might even sneak home and beat them.
“We’re all pretty keen to see where we’re at, especially after we had a practice match against Kerang last week, which we were pretty pleased with how it went.”
Improving Racecourse’s chances of reversing the result of last year’s grand final defeat will be the absence of Josh Thornton, one of Murray Downs’ premiership-winning skippers and leading bowlers.
While Thornton will return in the coming weeks, his absence will force the Rams into a reshuffle of their teams, with Garry McCaig set to take over Thornton’s role skippering their third rink.
McCaig will be joined by regular skippers Brian Lehmann and John Caldwell in leading the three rinks for Murray Downs, with the Rams to host the opening match of the season, their first since last year’s grand final.
“Everyone’s looking forward to the weekend, especially being on our own home track too,” McCaig said.
“Not that there’s any advantage to us being at home, most of (Racecourse’s) players have played enough bowls on our greens, so there’s no real advantage I don’t think.
“It will just come down to who puts them down the better on the day, but it’s like any sport in that early-season wins are very important.
“They’re a good morale booster and they help build momentum, which will be important in this new competition because every week will be a challenge.
“(The Northern Valley competition) will reinvigorate a lot of our bowlers, we’ll need to play at their best week in and week out now.”
In terms of playing their old foes Racecourse first up, McCaig’s sentiments were the same as his rival skipper Smith, with both teams desperate to claim early-season bragging rights.
“It’s a good rivalry between us and Racecourse,” McCaig said.
“It’s a bit like Collingwood and Carlton or Swan Hill and Tyntynder, you just don’t want to lose to the other.”
