WITH the opening round of the new Northern Valley weekend pennant competition just one week away, the Gannawarra Times has taken an in depth look at the six clubs that will be competing to be crowned as the competition’s inaugural winners.
BARHAM
PRESIDENT – Garry Cook
LAST SEASON – Fourth (NDPA Division 1)
IN’S – Mark Quor (Mathoura), Paul Clear (Mathoura), Kane Wilson, Craig Harker,
OUT’S – Jason Lunghusen (Kerang)
2024-25 SKIPPERS – Brody Harker, Glenn Faul, Brian Mansbridge
WORD FROM THE COACH
BRODY HARKER
What are your expectations for this season? We’d love to make the final, a lot of our players have never played in a final let alone won one. We’d love to play in and win a final, but ideally we’d love at least one of our teams to be successful, especially in the new Northern Valley competition.
Other than yourselves, who is the team to beat? Murray Downs are always strong, along with Cohuna Golf. Those two teams will be the toughest competition I feel.
What are you most looking forward to about the new Northern Valley Pennant competition? It will be a good change and change is always good. We’re looking to play some more Friday night games and even looking at doing some live scoring and live streaming as well.
If we are to win the premiership, it will be because of …? Us improving throughout the season with our training and getting our sides right. It will be down to a lot of training, a lot of hard work and having improved our depth over the off season.
The Final Word – Although the loss of Jason Lunghusen to Kerang will hurt, Barham will still go into the 2024-25 season confident of a much-improved showing with strong recruiting and improved depth. Brody Harker, along with Glenn Faul and Brian Mansbridge, should ensure that Barham are tough to beat each week.
COHUNA GOLF
PRESIDENT – John Keely
LAST SEASON – Premiers (NDPA Division 1)
IN’S – None
OUT’S – David Orr (Kerang), Stuart Baskott (Kerang Golf)
2024-25 SKIPPERS – Harrison Keely, Jarred Hammond, Rodney Fletcher
WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT
JOHN KEELY
What are your expectations for this season? We think the competition will be strong, but at the same time we want to be contending and we expect to be there. We’ve played in about 19 of the last 20 grand finals and we’ve been a strong club for a long time. We’ve played against Murray Downs at the regionals last year and performed well, but we know they will be tough opposition, along with Racecourse.
Other than yourselves, who is the team to beat? I think Kerang will be very competitive and Murray Downs will be very strong as well.
What are you most looking forward to about the new Northern Valley Pennant competition? I think we’re all looking forward to a new competition and playing against new teams like Murray Downs and Racecourse. It will be good to see how we stack up against the other clubs.
If we are to win the premiership, it will be because of …? Our strength right throughout our teams. We’re not reliant on any individuals, we’re well balanced across all teams, we have good leaders and good seconds. That’s where our strength lies and it’s been one of the keys to our success over the years, having good depth right throughout our club.
The Final Word – The long-time benchmark of bowls in the region, Cohuna Golf will start favourites on the back of last year’s regional title and subsequent high placing in the state championships. Strong across the board with three of the best skippers going around in Harrison Keely, Jarred Hammond, Rodney Fletcher, Cohuna Golf are without doubt the team to beat.
KERANG
PRESIDENT – Damian Murray
LAST SEASON – Third (NDPA Division 1)
IN’S – Jason Lunghusen (Barham), Brian Bowles (Cohuna), David Orr (Cohuna Golf), Adrian Bates (Yarra Glen)
OUT’S – None
2024-25 SKIPPERS – Dale Hancock, Jason Lunghusen, Jason Wilson
WORD FROM THE CLUB
DALE HANCOCK
What are your expectations for this season? With four pretty good inclusions we will be trying to give it a fair tilt, especially being the first year. It’s always tough to beat Cohuna Golf, but it will be interesting to see how it all goes being a new competition, it’s all pretty exciting and there will be no easy games.
Other than yourselves, who is the team to beat? Every team will be pretty good but Cohuna Golf are the team to beat I feel. Murray Downs and Racecourse I think will be tough to beat also, especially Murray Downs as they have been a strong team for a long time too.
What are you most looking forward to about the new Northern Valley Pennant competition? Every team will have to play their best week in and week out. There’s competitions where you have stronger and weaker teams but over the course of a long season, sometimes that interest can wane, whereas this season every match will be important which I think will only be a positive for the overall standard of bowls.
If we are to win the premiership, it will be because of …? Our consistency. Every player is capable of putting down a toucher, but the difference between the good teams and the great teams is whether you can do it one out of every 10 times or eight out of every 10 times. If you can play consistent bowls, you are more than likely win.
The Final Word – An influx of recruits has Kerang set to make a significant impact in year one of the Northern Valley pennant competition. Jason Lunghusen is a massive recruit, while Adrian Bates, David Orr and Brian Bowles will also ensure Kerang improve markedly on their third-place finish from last year’s Northern District division 1 competition.
KERANG GOLF
PRESIDENT – Jim McLeish
LAST SEASON – Runner’s up (NDPA Division 1)
IN’S – Dallas Mathers (Cohuna), Stuart Baskott (Cohuna Golf)
OUT’S – Howard McClelland
2024-25 SKIPPERS – TBD
WORD FROM THE CAPTAIN
HOWARD McCLELLAND
What are your expectations for this season? We’d like to play finals in the first year of the new competition and that’s what we’ll be aiming for. We’ve added a couple of new players that we thought would have made us competitive in the Northern District’s competition so hopefully they will hold us in good stead in the Northern Valley as well.
Other than yourselves, who is the team to beat? Cohuna Golf will be the team to beat. They have a history of winning premierships and they have a winning culture, which is something I think all the other clubs are striving towards.
What are you most looking forward to about the new Northern Valley Pennant competition? We’ve joined for the simple reason that we want to play in the best competition that we have available in our area and we’re looking forward to the challenge of playing against new competition.
If we are to win the premiership, it will be because of …? A positive attitude. We won’t be aiming to win the premiership in the first year of the competition however, but we are aiming to play finals first and foremost and we’ll see what happens after that. We’re building, but how far that takes us, we’re not sure.
The Final Word – After making their first Northern District’s grand final in many seasons last year, Kerang Golf will be hoping their form stacks up in the new Northern Valley pennant competition. Natural improvement from the Charles twins, Ian and Andrew, along with Brett Hipworth and Alan Hird should see Kerang Golf remain competitive against the bigger clubs.MURRAY DOWNS
PRESIDENT – Garry McCaig
LAST SEASON – Premiers (MVPA Division 1)
IN’S – David Griffin (Manangatang), Rex Howard (Nyah District), Les McPhee, Mardene de Villiers, Riaan de Villiers
OUT’S – Mick Tempini (Lake Boga), Peter Brook (Berriwillock), Matt O’Bree
2024-25 SKIPPERS – Josh Thornton, Brian Lehmann, John Caldwell
WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT
GARRY McCAIG
What are your expectations for this season? We’re excited and looking forward to the new challenge. We’ve won the last three division 1 pennants in the MVPA and this will set the bar a little bit higher because every week you go out and play now you’ll be playing against the top opposition in our district. The standard will go up considerably.
Other than yourselves, who is the team to beat? I think both us and Racecourse feel that the four Northern District clubs will all be very, very hard to beat. Cohuna Golf are very strong and I’ve heard on the grapevine that Barham have recruited well also.
What are you most looking forward to about the new Northern Valley Pennant competition? Most of our players are looking forward to the challenge, we’re honesty getting keener as the season has been getting closer. The past few seasons have been good, but this will be a whole new challenge and I think it has probably reinvigorated some of our players a bit.
If we are to win the premiership, it will be because of …? Our overall consistency throughout our whole side. We don’t rely on one or two players, it’s about how the whole 12 of us perform.
The Final Word – The three-time reigning premiers in the Murray Valley division 1 competition will face much stiffer opposition this season. Their depth and experience should help cover the key losses of Mick Tempini, Peter Brook and Matt O’Bree, while their three exceptionally talented skippers will mean the Rams should be there when the whips are cracking come season’s end.
RACECOURSE
PRESIDENT – Norm Smith
LAST SEASON – Runner’s up (MVPA Division 1)
IN’S – Alannah Taylor
OUT’S – Robert Hayes
2024-25 SKIPPERS – Norm Smith, Michael Holyoak, Glenn McIntosh
WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT
NORM SMITH
What are your expectations for this season? It will be a different competition altogether for everybody and we’ll probably battle a little bit, but we’ll give it a red-hot crack and give it a go.
Other than yourselves, who is the team to beat? Cohuna Golf are the team to beat. They have a lot of big guns like Harrison Keely and Jarrod Hammond, we’ve never played them as a team before but from all reports they will be very strong, but we’re keen to give it a go and see how we stack up against them.
What are you most looking forward to about the new Northern Valley Pennant competition? It will be nice to play against different competition, we’ve played against the same teams up here for a long time. We really haven’t played against a lot of these players and teams before so it will be a new challenge. The players that have been asked to play are all pretty keen and that’s the main thing.
If we are to win the premiership, it will be because of …? Our improvement. I think we will have to improve a lot to be in the mix to win, but we have a lot of improvement within our team, especially with our younger members of the club.
The Final Word – Racecourse will go into the new Northern Valley pennant competition which much the same side team as last season, but will be hoping for improvement from the newly promoted Alannah Taylor and DJ Weaver. Mick Holyoak and Kylie Gardner will also be key players, along with Norm Smith, Glenn McKissack and newly promoted skipper Glenn McIntosh.
