I honestly do not know where to even start on reviewing the double header, my head is close to exploding trying to get my very limited brain power around what just happened. I was in favour of this double header scenario but less so when having to review 10 games at once but so much to digest with some big early moves from the newbies.
The top half is nearly all the new teams & the bottom half is the seasoned 1 Whiters struggling for points. Gosnells are 2nd from bottom, after dropping from 1 Red & dominating 1 White the season before winning a Pennant in the process. They won 1 game by 1pt, lost at home & got pumped by nearly double scores against The View. Then bottom side Cockburn were only a few bowls off 1 Red through Finals last year & unbeatable at home & now 0 from 3, losing at home & getting a mere 4.5pts from the last 24pts on offer. Very strange start to the season.
On a good note, at this rate the Kats are heading back to 1 Red, Manning & Doubleview are tracking very well, albeit they have no where to go if they finish top & Leeming have shot out of the blocks like Usain Bolt winning both away games but narrowly dropping their preferred home game.
The randomness continued on the skippers ladder as only 5 skippers remain unbeaten after 8 days of bowls.
Bassendean: R2 v Mosman Park (A), R3 v Manning (H)
What a tough weekend for Basso, dropping both games after a narrow R1 victory. The away fixture was always going to be challenging but close & it was both. Only 14 shots in the difference & Southern couldn’t make it a fairytale return to Mosman Park. As predicted O’Sullivan was tipped to step up & their rink did it both Sat & Sun which was one of the few shining lights of the weekend.
You would think that dropping that early home game to Manning might be costly but there’s plenty of games to go. The Lions kept the score differential to a minimal so 8pts from 24pts isn’t ideal but no major damage done on percentage.
Cockburn: R2 v Kardinya (H), R3 v Safety Bay (A)
The home side weren’t smashed but still failed to win a rink at home for the first time in many many years. 0.5pt at home would be considered a minor disaster but the rinks were tight across the board.
The away R3 game, which was played Friday night under lights, was more like the Titans of old with their fighting spirit, never say die attitude & then their customary dropping of their bundle on the last end. Unsure if it’s just a lack of luck but surely it’s something that they can’t seem to consistently get these tight games swinging their way on the 84th end. Another heartbreaking loss & now rooted at the bottom they’ll need a few big wins to get their season back on track & they are more than capable.
Doubleview: R2 v Manning (A), R3 v Gosnells (H)
The View had a hard task crossing the Swan on Sat & the game was close expect for that blowout rink which was the difference in the end. They’ll know the corresponding fixture might be closer.
Sunday had them return home kicking the wounds & they got stuck into the Kookaburras from the start with the game nearly over by half way. Finishing nearly double scores was a huge achievement since The Views PL side didn’t even beat them by that margin last season.
Gosnells: R2 v Leeming (H), R3 v Doubleview (A)
A good home game to get the double header off to a solid start or so thought Gosnells, as Leeming came firing & ran riot late to cause a major upset in the fortress that’s Gosnells. 13 shots in the end but I believe it was a lot closer late in the game so the home side will be disappointed to drop a early home game.
Back on the road Sunday & their wounds got reopened in horrific style as the carnage only snowballed with the The View rolling them & leaving zero scraps on the table. Another high performing team from last year that probably were very unlucky to drop from 1 Red are now near the bottom of 1 White. Interesting next few weeks.
Kardinya: R2 v Cockburn (A), R3 v Mosman Park (H)
Massive double header for the Kats as they cruise right into top spot in a dominant display against some assumed quality sides. No idea when the last time anyone went to Cockburn & stopped them winning a single rink, huge statement in that performance. Probably top 3 performance of the season & the rest will be doing well to match that.
The hard work was done Sat as Sun was the day of near rest. For a few ends the Kats were forced to get out of 2nd gear but they soon had the cue in the rack as the blew out to double figures not leaving a single point in the table for a stunned Mossies. Easily the team to beat over the next few rounds.
Leeming: R2 v Gosnells (A), R3 v Rossmoyne (A)
Well haven’t Leeming answered the concerns of whether they below in 1 White. Taking the Kookaburra’s apart away was a superb start to the double header. Not many have achieved that & they only left the home side with a miserable 1pt. Huge performance.
The only side to have 2 away games meant Leeming were vulnerable for the double header but not many had tipped them (maybe themselves) to grab a whopping 13.5pts AWAY from home with only 16pts on offer, another huge performance. For context most other sides only win 2 away games per season & Leeming hard ticked that box after R3, impressive.
Manning: R2 v Doubleview (H), R3 v Bassendean (A)
The Eagles were confident heading into this fixture but they probably got a little shock how tough it turned out saved by that blowout rink. 7pts at home is solid & after a superb smash & grab in R1 they aimed to finish the weekend unbeaten.
Sunday was a lot tougher an assignment but Manning were well able to withstand the Lions early pressure finishing superbly on the last end to snatch a 4 shot Agg to cruise back to Manning unbeaten after 3 games thinking this 1 White stuff is easy. Not many will go to Rossmoyne & Basso grabbing good Aggs so the Eagles will be flying high heading unbeaten into R4 & they are looking like a team to fear.
Mosman Park: R2 v Bassendean (H), R3 v Kardinya (A)
The Mossies needed to put away Basso on Sat & they did just that, even though it was very tight for most of the day. It could be a valuable Agg as both sides might be finishing close to each other so grabbing 7pts is a solid outcome.
Celebrations were short lived as less than 24hrs later the Kats brought them back to earth with a thud. Mossies were probably not looking to grab the Agg but 2pts might have been helpful rather than a duck egg. With only 9pts from 24 they’ll be disappointed but 2 of the 3 were away so the next few weeks should even out the scores.
Rossmoyne: R2 v Safety Bay (A), R3 v Leeming (H)
A trip that the River Rats have previously struggled with on the Sat heading to Safety Bay but boy oh boy didn’t they come close to a real smash & grab that would have rocked the home side. Great effort showing real guts away & 3.5pts isn’t the worst result on the road.
Sat must have taken the wind from their sails as Rossmoyne didn’t show Sunday as Leeming swooped in like Magpie season & grabbed a big away Agg but 20 shots. Yes it probably was down to that 1 blowout rink but 5pts from 16pts wouldn’t be the full allocation Rossmoyne were thinking of & dropping 2 from 2 at home may have further impacts in a few weeks.
Safety Bay: R2 v Rossmoyne (H), R3 v Cockburn (H)
The Bay probably thought they might get 2 tough games over the double header but little did they know that there would be only 1 single shot difference after putting down 336. If anyone says every shot doesn’t count will how the hell can you put down 336 bowls with only 1 bowl difference after that many attempts?!
Still getting 11.5pts from 2 hard games will be of value for The Bay as many others were not as successful.
Result: Draw 4.5 - 3.5
Prediction: Safety Bay 7 - 1
Result: Safety Bay 7 - 1
Prediction: Safety Bay 6 - 2
Safety Bay 77 (7) vs Cockburn 76 (1)
(Chris Carruthers 18 - William Tepania 17) (Graeme Smith 20 - Jim Ricci 15) (Grant Taylor 13 - Marc Abonnel 24) (Zac Boddy 26 - Josip Marevic 20)
Doubleview 107 (8) vs Gosnells 58 (0)
(Brandon Heta 27 - Luke Garbett 11) (Christopher McKenna 27 - Rob Foy 13) (David Cosgrove 27 - Glenn Lynch 16) (Edward Johnson 26 - Eoghan Gahan 18)
Rossmoyne 70 (1.5) vs Leeming 90 (6.5)
(Craig Edson 16 - Karl Vandersluys 20) (Mark Barrett 10 - Gary Ford 27) (Rawley Lang 24 - Graeme Fewings 23) (Walter Harvey 20 - James Newton 20)
Bassendean 80 (2) vs Manning 84 (6)
(Alan Southern 23 - Sam Perica 19) (Butch Dinnison 17 - Paul Smith 23) (Eugene OSullivan 20 - Larry Herbert 18) (Stephen Jocelyn 20 - Wayne Heldt 24)
Kardinya 111 (8) vs Mosman Park 64 (0)
(Brad Henley 25 - Steven Swanson 19) (Daryl Radford 33 - Cameron Hoffman 16) (Matthew Allen 27 - Mark Robertson 10) (Steven Novak 26 - Mitchell Cranswick 19)
