What a cracking game between 2 evenly matched sides & R1 didn’t disappoint with nearly the first game of the season ending up in a draw albeit from a last Gosnells bowl to seal the Agg by the minimalist margins.
Barrett held Gahan by 2 shots in a close affair to get the home side on the board. Lang had Lynch by 6 to give the River Rats another point. Harvey took care of Foy by 5 for another home point. Surely 3 rinks was enough for the Agg?! Unfortunately not as Garbett on his 1 White skippering debut put Edson to the sword by 14 shots to wipe out the home side's total of 13 shots up & got the Kookaburras over the line for a huge away win & got their return to 1 Red off to a flying start.
The home side will be disappointed to drop a home Agg so early in the season but they still get 3pts. Having only won 2 away in 2023 & 2022, they'll need to maintain a focus on putting some points on the board away from home. Last time the Kookaburrah's were in 1 White in 2022 they only won 3 on the road (and still went up to PL) so this one will be a great foundation for their season to build on.

The home side walked away with this one in a canter with over 30 shots up in the end. The Kats will be a tough opponent at home for everyone this season so The Bay won't dwell on this one too long. The Kats were probably unlucky to go down last season with other results going against them so they'll be keen on getting back to PL even if they have lost a few players.
Novak dropped to Carruthers by 2 to give the away side a valuable point & that's where the story ended for The Bay. Henley edged past Smith by 3 in a close contest to get the home side on the board. Allen got some big ends off Boddy as that game blew out to 19 shots & there was always that risk of 1 blow out rink. Radford did similar to Taylor by a dozen to put the Agg well out of reach & get the Kats season off to a perrrrfect start.

The Eagles did what they needed to do against Leeming as the 2 newbies square off looking slightly different than when they met last season in 1 Blue. CVery cose game that could have easily swung either way. Even though Leeming have huge club numbers & plenty of players to choose from they seem to struggle to get that backend recruitment to really propel them into PL. They will probably need to recruit mid-season but it might be an early call, let's see how they sit after the double header.
Vandersluys edged Taylor by the slightest of margins to strike the first blow for the home side. Newton & Heldt couldn't be split as the solid tussle finished 20-20. Ford got the W over Perica by 2 to give the home side a huge look at the Agg but Smith stepped up against Fewings by 10 to get a real smash & grab Agg from Leeming as they headed back over the Canning with a little smile knowing it could have been a lot worse.
Eagles are aware that their good away record from 1 Blue won't be easily replicated here this season so an early away Agg is huge for them. Leeming will need every point especially those home ones but grabbing 2.5pts isn't the worst start to a season so they'll be keen on grabbing 7-8pts over the double header.

Another close game that went down to the wire which makes the initial balance of 1 White very interesting. It would not be unexpected to see Mossies sneak a W here but that blow out rink killed them & that's always the concern away from home. The View dug deep on this one to grind out a key game against what should be a Finals side so they'll be very happy with this start.
Heta dropped to Robertson by 1 shot in a very tight game that went to the last bowl. Johnson got rolled by the Cranswick's by 15 to give the away side a huge look at the Agg. McKenna pulled back 4 against Hoffman to pull some back but Mossies were still well up on the Agg. Cosgrove stepped up big time with a trashing of sorts against Adams by 24 to put this fixture to bed with a few to spare.
2 on the road won't damage Mossies too much but this one probably got away from them. Doubleview were strong at home last season & they'll be tough again this season but they'll be opportunities for others as the home ground advantage isn't as strong as others in 1 White.

This was definitely up there with the Gosnells game, as game of the round & isn't this fixture such a predictable BLOCKBUSTER of a game every time these sides play.
Apologies on getting the Titans name wrong previously, old habits & not concentrating, thanks for the reminder, my bad. But yes I'm unsure if I'm starting to put the kibosh on the Titans again as everytime I back them Away they seem to have an agonising close loss. Last season they only won 2 on the road, the same as the year before but half of those losses were by less than 10 shots, so they're right there on the last end.
The Lions will be delighted to get this one over the line even if it was by the minimal margin winning only 1 rink. Big test against a side coming up from 1 Blue with a few changes across the rinks.
Southern got his fairytale Basso start quashed by Big Willie by 5 shots to give the home side a solid point on the board. Dinnison struggled to control Marevic as Joe pushed out a 5 shot win in the end. O'Sullivan had similar struggles against the Deadly Rink in a high scoring affair that put close to 50 shots on the scorecard but the Deadly Rink pushed through by 3. Again like the River Rats, the Titans felt that 3 rinks away would easily get them the Agg but Jocelyn making his debut for the Lions coming over from Mossies with the Southerns put Bandy's side to the sword by a massive 17 shots to dramatically swing the Agg back to the home side by 4 shots overall.
Of course Titans will be disappointed but picking up 3pts on the road isn't the worst result & many will struggle heading to Basso this season. The Basso 2nd side are probably 2-3 players better than last season in key spots so they should hold their own reasonable well this season. They'll apply good pressure to the top side with some many looking for upward opportunities which might keep the top side honest.