The Lions have been very close over the first 5 Rounds & it was going to click soon & it did at Kardinya of all places. The Kats will be disappointed as they had this one in the bag with 3-4 ends to go but let Basso back in through 1 of the wider margin games when Basso grabbed more than 10shots over the last few ends. It’s a huge win for Basso & gives them a chance to fight on from here & they’ll need it next week v Wanneroo.
The difference was Rockets rink v Stokes where they won by 18shots & pretty much carried the Agg & some. There's no doubt Rocket didn't want to go 0-4 & they came out swinging from the start. Clearly the whole rink was excellent to win by that score away at Kardinya & good to see D’Souza back playing well with Rocket in 1White after joining the Lions this year.
Erceg took the other valuable point with a minimum margin over Knapps side who were travelling ok with a few mixed results. Both skippers needed a win & it showed in a tight game. Fewings took O’Sullivan by 6shots & that’s rink continues to struggle for form. Fewing's rink is now unbeaten over the last 4 games which is clearly Kats better side at the moment. Yates also had a strong win over Krstic by another 6shots but it just wasn’t enough to bridge the gap. Krstic's side is struggling a little to find that strong finish over the last few ends with only 1 win so far over the 6 Rounds. Yates is another shining light for the Kats as that's 4 from 5 & some of them against so top skippers. Kats continue to struggle but only just & the margins are minimal but its not helping them. They have now lost more home games by R6 than they did for the entire season last year. Unsure if they’re destined to stay in 7th spot as it’s a good 16 on paper but they’ll need a big game next week on carpet at Rossmoyne to calm the nerves. Basso have got a few more players on 2 wins but still no one on 3 wins. Similar to South Perth, they just need 1 or 2 rinks to put together a few good weeks to drive home the Agg & they'll move up the ladder.

The upset was there but somewhat unlikely given Warwick’s home form but yet the River Rats came for points & they nabbed it late on the 84th end, in an epic contest of top bowls by both sides.
Petchell held Post by 2shots in a huge win for that side against Warwick rink who were travelling pretty average now as that's 1 win from 4 for the Post rink. When they win it's big, like 12, 21 & 17 but some close loses has knocked them back a little. Lang dropped a small bundle to Borkowski, losing by 13shots & its very similar to Post in that they are now 1 from 4 with the last 2 loses being -14,-13, so its somewhat leaky. Hinge v Jervies just couldn’t be separated all day & it finished a very high scoring 27-27. This left Ledingham v Gollan is a winner takes all & Gollan’s rink did just take as they cruised to a 12shot win & with it the Agg. Gollan's side is now running a very impressive 4 from 5 with a good portion of those wins by double figures. Hard to think Warwick would only win 1 rink at home but shows the metal of the River Rats to ensure they jump over Warwick & sit very nicely in 3rd spot.
The River Rats have 3 of the next 4 at home so surely they’ll be worthy of 2nd spot if the win those 3 & they’re a very good chance as most are mid to low ladder teams. Possible significant purple patch ahead at Rossmoyne.
Warwick are away next week & after that have some pretty tricky games thereafter, so interesting few weeks ahead.

Another impressive away game for the Roosters & yet they go home with only 2 points again. It’s those kind of results that make or break a season as the margins are very narrow. Still to take 2 points off the Roos at home isn’t too bad & keeps the scoreboard ticking over.
The Roos got knocked back a little with Musulin running over Costello by 5 shots to get Cockburn off to a very nice start. Marevich chipped in another big win by 4shots against a superb Buchholz side to give the Roosters a real fighting chance. That's Buchholz first lose in 5 games so theyre now 4 from 6 which is still very good form & most of those were by big scores so they definitely are a driving force in any Roo's win. Ward v Sokol played out a tough contest but Ward at home are quite a strong rink, breaking a 2 game losing streak & the hunger showed late on as they brought the balance back with a 8 shot win.
The final game was what the crowd were looking for with the 2 in form skippers. Turra v TePania was a wonderful contest with 2 of the best rinks in 1 White going toe to toe. Supposedly the 9 shot margin didn’t represent the very competitive & high level of bowls played by both sides but Turra just had more of the pressure bowls. That's TePania's first lose in 5 games but with Marevich hitting some form they have a better balance to look forward to over the coming weeks.
Not a lot lost for Cockburn & they’ve now 2 home games against bottom teams coming into the break so that should ease any concerns.
Wanneroo continue to tick along nicely & sit in 4th spot. Their percentage is pretty health but they have a tough 4 from 5 next few games so those may just define their season.

The Mavericks were always going to find it difficult against the Swans who are running hot & it pretty much played out like that as the sea gulls left nothing on the table after grabbing all 8pts.
Mitchell has it tough v Loftus for a 17shot loss & Dawson had similar v Rixom which ended up being a 15win to Sorrento. And that’s where the blow outs stopped as the Mavericks showed great heart in running the 2 stronger rinks right down to the wire. Sanders gave Butler a little reminder late to maintain the concentration but they had some chances for the upset. Then Barker stepped that up a notch by losing by the barest of margins to Lander in a very solid effort. Lander's rink go 6 from 6 by the minimum margin but a win is a win & the very impressive record stays intact. Its about now going 5 or 6 games on the trot that the pressure and expectations build to maintain the record but no sign of slowing up so far. Good to see Wharam make the most of his chances for Morley & seemed to be a nice addition to that rink that ran Lander's so close.
Morley know there’s a few wins out there & they’re pushing hard to grab any chance, which may come over the next few weeks as they have mid to lower ladder teams.
Onwards & upwards for Sorrento & even more so if these rumours are true about Barron & Goddard.

The game had the build up and drama of a good soap but that balloon deflated quite rapidly after the normalisation of the current form kicked in & Ossy Park put this away near the end but were always comfortable enough throughout. Confidence has been running high with the Saints & this showed as they played like a tight unit & didn't give a lot away while grinding out the ends. Unsure what this means for South Perth but it's trouble either way as you can't get off the bottom section of the ladder when you only pick up 1pt from 16 available points over the last 2 Rounds.
Weir had Roelofs for a good tussle but talent ran through in the end even with the Millers picking up dome scores. Dewson v Calvo was another reasonably tight affair but the Dewson rink played into the head a little better late on to snatch it. The last 2 games were the controversial selections for some but Opie played well to fight back to grab a draw v Thorn, who would be pleased enough to share the point. The final game was the Saints top skipper in DiGiuseppe v Sharp. The Millers started well but allowed the Saints to get on a roll through the mid section & by 16th end the Millers had only won 4 ends & just couldn’t get those telling bowls in like DiGiuseppe as the won by a comfortable 4shots.
More changes a float for South Perth again this weekend. Seems to be seasoned skippers & backend players available but maybe not in the right areas. The likes of McRae playing 3rd, he was just superb last year winning 6 of 8 on the home stretch & that huge win v the View gave them a massive boost to get into promotional finals late in the year. Won & skippered senior state triples last year, played with the senior State side & from SPBC FB looks like he's recently skippered the club fours win. He’s also only lost 2 games this year which shows good form considering their ladder position. Petrich skippered great in Finals & hardly lost a game all last year, similar with Bandy & Santostefano is back but yet they seem to struggle with the back end when on paper it looks like a very good 16 across the board. They’ll find their form, let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later.
The Saints continue their superb form & without them chasing hard in 2nd, Sorrento could be nearly 3 games ahead by now. This weekend will be a HUGE game for them & it’s probably in everyone else’s best interest if they beat Sorrento to keep things interesting.