Four new faces are likely to fill the skipping roles as Kyabram sets its sights on a title tilt in Goulburn Valley pennant bowls’ top division this season.
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Connor Trewren and Brent Reiner are among them, aiming to maintain their top-20 ranking when they debut with Kyabram on October 15 against Shepparton Park.
They are among a host of recruits that will significantly lower the average age of the club (currently 74) for the 2022-23 season.
Trewren, a grand final skipper with Shepparton Golf last year, finished with a 10-3 win-loss record last season.
Trewren was ranked as the 15th best bowler in the Goulburn Valley’s Division One competition and had the fifth-best record of any skip in the competition.
He was the only Shepparton Golf skipper to at least break even in the grand final loss to Tallyaroopna.
Reiner had nine wins and a draw from his 13 matches as a skip with East Shepparton last season and was the fourth-best performer skipper in Division one — an outstanding feat considering his team won only five games.
David Cartwright and Geoff Beattie are tipped to take charge of the remaining two rinks as the club’s top-ranked skip from 2021-22 Glenn Fields moves to third.
Geoff Beattie and Brent Reiner both played with Shepparton East’s sixth-ranked team, Reiner ending the season as the 16th-ranked bowler in the top flight.
Cartwright was the 16th-ranked skip in the Division one competition bowling with third-ranked Hilltop last season.
The new skippers could be among eight changes, half the team, for the approaching season.
Beattie will not be available until round three, leaving Fields to continue in the skipping role until he starts his season. Beattie’s wife, Lee, will also be in the mix for division-one selection.
Beattie finished his 2021-22 season with four wins and as the 28th ranked skipper.
David Townsend, the 13th-ranked second from Division one last season, is also joining the club from Tatura Hilltop — along with David Cartwright’s two sons, Josh and Jacob.
Josh finished the season as the 14th-ranked third, while Jacob bowled lead on the same rink as his father and brother.
Kyabram finished fourth in the eight-team Goulburn Valley Division one pennant bowls competition last season, losing its preliminary final to eventual premier Tallygaroopna in the second week of the finals.
The club is drawn to face reigning premier Tallygaroopna in the third round of the season, after opening rounds against Shepparton Park and Stanhope — which finished fifth and seventh respectively last season.
Kyabram finished with a 6-6 win/loss record and two draws from the home and away season.
Robert Sceney was the highest ranked bowler in the top flight, finishing with seven wins alongside Keith Button, Glenn Fields and Sally Beach.
Sceney will use the arm for the first time in pennant this year, but Button will be missing this season — departing recently on an around-Australia adventure.
Fields’ foursome filled the 37-40th positions in the player rankings for the 2021-22 season.
All but one of the top 20 bowlers in the Goulburn Valley were from grand final teams Shepparton Golf and Tallygaroopna, with the remaining finalist Tatura Hilltop’s top-ranked player coming in at number 25.
Glenn Fields was the seventh-ranked skip in GV bowls playing area, finishing with seven wins and five defeats (with one draw), to be one win ahead of Greg Shilling.
It was Shilling who was the star of Kyabram’s semi-final victory against Tatura Hilltop.
In that same match Fields lost by just two shots, Robert George was an eight-shot loser and Paul McInnes lost by a single shot.
Shilling’s rink was a 19-shot victor, having a match-winning influence on an overall eight-shot win for the team.
Bowling as a lead for Fields, Sally Beach was the seventh-ranked lead in the Goulburn Valley division one competition — Kyabam’s best performing lead bowler.
Robert Anset (ranked 19th) was next best of the lead bowlers, with a 5-8 win/loss record and Joe Greco was ranked 24th.
Second bowler Keith Button, who also bowled with skipper Fields was seventh-ranked for his role and Kelvin Hubble (5-6 win/loss) was ranked 15th for the season.
Kelvin will probably start the season in lower ranks, not having had a big pre-season
Robert Sceney was Kyabram’s highest ranked third, finishing with a 7-3 win/loss record for the season to be seventh on the list. He was also a member of the Fields rink.
Mal Williams and Graeme King both had four wins for the season to be ranked inside the top 20.
Darren Boswood, along with sons Henry and Charlie will also be in the hunt for division one roles.
Euroa, which finished bottom in 2021-22, has been replaced in the Division one competition by Mooroopna.
∎ In Division two Kyabram missed the top four on percentage, finishing with seven wins and six defeats.
It will face Mooroopna Golf, which finished sixth in the eight-team division last season, and new team Euroa in the opening two weeks.
Euroa and Mooroopna have replaced Tallygaroopna and Rushworth in the Division two competition.
At least half a dozen players from last season’s division one team will play in division two, which is certain to influence the team’s status in 2022-23.
Jack Portia’s eight wins for the season had him ranked 15th, eventual runner-up Shepparton Golf having 12 bowlers in the top 20.
Don Cook, Danny O’Brien and Kenneth Risstrom (bowling as a second) all had seven wins for the season.
Portia was the third-ranked lead bowler for the division-two competition, with Peter Lomas (12th) the next best.
Cook was the highest-ranked skipper, remaining unbeaten for the season with seven wins.
∎ Kyabram’s opening game of the Division four season is against grand finalist from last season, Seymour VRI.
Premier Nagambie and bottom-ranked Rushworth have been replaced in the division by East Shepparton and Tallygaroopna.
The team’s 2021-22 run at the Division-four premiership ended in the first week of the finals when it lost by four shots to eventual divisional runner-up Seymour.
Ted Hazelman and Nardo Di Petta both won their rinks on the day and Graham Woodcock was involved in a thrilling draw, but the nine-shot loss of Ray Harrison’s rink ended the team’s season.
Kyabram finished with eight wins and six defeats for the home and away season, Brian Lindsay’s eight-win season — alongside Darryl Gade and Thomas Polglaze — the best individual returns of the season.
Howard Tonkin was Kyabram’s best division-four lead bowler, with six wins (ranked seventh) and Gade was the third-ranked second (his eight wins coming from 14 matches).
Ray Harrison was ranked eight of the competititon’s skippers for his eight-win season.
∎ Kyabram’s Division six (north) grand final team from 2021-22 will face newcomer Mooroopna in the opening round of the new season on October 15.
Kyabram suffered a shock loss to Colbinabbin in the season decider last year, having only two weeks earlier scored a 19-shot win against Colbinabbin, only to lose the grand final lost by 26 shots.
Mooroopna and Shepparton Golf have replaced premier Colbinabbin and bottom-team Rushworth in the division.
Brad and Stanley McIntosh, along with Graeme Newman and Rhonda Woodwock were the four players to finish ranked among the top-10 bowlers in the competition.
Brad McIntosh skipped the rink and was unbeaten until grand final day, finishing the season as the top-ranked skip. He skipped the rink of Stan McIntosh, Newman and lead bowler Lucy Portia, which lost by 10 in the grand final after a brilliant home-and-away season.
Jan Macfadyen had seven wins in the skip role to finish as the fifth-ranked skip for the season.
Newman (number one), John Macfadyen (ranked fourth) and Rhonda Woodcock (who bowled in second and third roles) were all in the top half dozen thirds for the Division six season.
Alongside top-ranked Stan McIntosh, Alan Finney was ranked number three for third bowlers.
Garry Salomons was the other lead bowler from Kyabram to be ranked in the top 10.
Kyabram Free Press and Campaspe Valley News editor