2024 Nationals preview
The third instalment of The Nationals is set to once again dazzle the bowling community as Australia’s best converge on both Club Tweed and the Broadbeach Bowls Club for the two-week showcase of bowls.
With over 30 national titles set to be awarded, each of the six coveted competitions will be hotly contested between some of the strongest fields from each state and territory.
Those six events being the Australian Champion of Champions, Under-18 Championships, Para Nationals, Senior Sides Championships, Australian Sides Championships and of course the Australian Championships.
The Champion of Champions is one of the most illustrious titles a bowler can hold, with the added incentive of playing for a world title the following year.
The men’s field in 2024 sees former champion Trystan Smallacombe bidding for a second gold medal following his 2020 triumph, with added impetus for the Northern Territory stalwart as he was unable to play for World Champion of Champions glory due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Joining him in the lineup at Club Tweed are the likes of New South Wales’ Mason Lewis, former Australian Pairs champion in Victoria’s Brad Marron and 2023 Australian Open men’s singles runner up in Queensland’s Jacob Nelson.
The women’s draw is even more stacked, with Right at Home Jackaroos such as Dawn Hayman, Kristina Krstic and Chloe Stewart all contesting the competition, alongside former national champion in Jess McMullen and Emerging Jackaroo Chloe Morrison, who will take part in the event once more after a staggering sixth state title in the ACT.
Running in conjunction with the Champion of Champions is the Under-18 Championships with a plethora of future superstars set to grace the greens on the New South Wales Queensland border.
Talent runs deep throughout the boy’s roster with the likes of Riley Gerick, Callum Alberti, Travis Moran, Koby Cromie, Jacob Brighton, Jonty Hayes and Charlie Hicks all vying for medals, as well as many others recently seen in the Australian Schools Championships.
The girl’s contingent is just as strong, with Reese Finn-Young, Jasmine Smith, Addy Ryan, Anda Panchawat, Lacey Gerick, Lilly Vardy, Akasha Fortune, Chanel Chakouch, Annabelle Teague and Mia Baldey among many others set to battle it out for some of the biggest junior titles in the country.
Following that will be the Para Nationals at Broadbeach where the contest will be as fierce as ever with some genuine superstars set to take to the coveted greens on the Gold Coast.
Four Para Jackaroos will be in action across the women’s competitions with Serena Bonnell, Cheryl Lindfield, Alison East and Louise Hoskins all bidding for more silverware in their trophy cabinets.
Emerging Para Jackaroo and 2022 Clover Lester Encouragement Award winner Jodie Nikolic will take part, as will 2023 recipient Anette Ruffle.
In the men’s field it will be six Para Jackaroos vying for glory with Josh Barry, Chris Flavel, James Reynolds, Damien Delgado, Tony Bonnell and Brett Sellars all set to be in contention for titles.
Lucas Protopapas, Cooper Whitestyles and Michael Vassallo all headline the Emerging Para Jackaroos in the field, with the likes of Commonwealth Games gold medallist Josh Thornton and former Australian representative David Minns in the field alongside a plethora of other sublime para bowlers.
The action then heads back to Club Tweed for the Senior Sides Championships where Victoria have enjoyed utter domination in recent years.
The state won the took a clean sweep of all three categories in 2022 and backed it up last year in Perth with wins in the women’s and overall events with Queensland’s men the only team stopping another whitewash in Perth.
In the Australian Sides Series, New South Wales have laid down the gauntlet for the other seven states to pry the Alley Shield from its grasp with some spectacular additions to the lineup, while Victoria will be looking to earn back-to-back Marj Morris trophies for the first time since 1999-2001.
As per usual, the concluding quintet of days at the event will stage the Australian Championships, with Broadbeach to be the setting for the third time in the past four years.
In 2024 however, the tournament will go up an octave with arguably the most star-studded field in its history that consists of seven Jackaroos, five former Australian representatives, eight Emerging and Pathways Jackaroos and a gargantuan amount of state stars that include previous title holders at the competition.
The 2024 Nationals will run from October 8-25, 2023, with live streaming to take place on Bowls Australia’s YouTube channel from the 9th.
