2026 Nationals preview
For the first time since 2023, The Nationals heads to Perth with the nation’s best set to battle it out in one of the biggest showcases of bowls to date.
Across 21 days, the Western Australian capital will play host to six of the most prestigious events on the calendar with more than 30 national titles on offer across the three host clubs in Mount Lawley, Osborne Park and North Beach.
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.
2026 Nationals Program Book
The Champion of Champions remains one of the most coveted trophies on the Australian bowls calendar, with the the opportunity to bid for a world title a carrot dangling for all participants.
New winners will be crowned in both the men’s and women’s competitions with the ladies draw looking towards the future thanks to the inclusions of young stars in New South Wales’ Chanel Chakouch and Tasmania’s Amity Bickley.
Both are in solid form, with Victoria’s Brooke Edwards, South Australia’s Cath Greenslade and Western Australia’s Linda Warburton set to pose tough challenges for the title.
Queensland’s Julia Brownie, the ACT’s Nicole Mengel and the Northern Territory’s Elisa Rigoni make up the field.
The men’s draw sees New South Wales’ Jay Bye-Norris head in as the favourite with Queensland young gun Ben Harrison also looking to make his own history.
Mitchell Jackson of the Northern Territory, Aaron Betts of Victoria, Western Australia’s Daniel Penman, the ACT’s Glenn Morton, South Australia’s Gary Thompson and Tasmania’s Tony Simpson make up the playing list.
From there, attention will turn to the Australian Under-18 Championships with New South Wales entering with a huge target on its back thanks to their dominant display in Devonport in 2025, clean sweeping all three major trophies at the event.
Following the next generation of stars will be some of the best para bowls on offer, with Australia’s best set to grace the greens of North Beach to pick up where an exciting event left off in Burnie last year.
Among the notable inclusions are recently crowned Commonwealth Games gold medallists in Serena Bonnell, Louise Hoskins, James Reynolds and Damien Delgado, as well as former Commonwealth champion Tony Bonnell.
Para Jackaroos Brett Sellars, Chris Flavel, Carolyn Nelson and Josh Barry will also take their place in the field.
Other notables in the draw are Emerging Para Jackaroos Lucas Protopapas, Jodie Nikolic and Michael Vassallo, Joanne Frost and Annette Ruffle.
The Australian Senior Sides Championships will take centre stage after the Para Nationals, with Queensland looking to defend the Betty Collins OAM Trophy and Glyn Bosisto MBE overall title, while New South Wales will be striving to go back-to-back after winning the John Dobbie AM trophy in 2025.
New South Wales were the best overall team in the Australian Sides Championships, claiming the Marj Morris Trophy in the process.
The blues will be out to recapture their form from 2023 that saw them take the Alley Shield in Perth, with Queensland striving to defend their crown from Tasmania.
As is now tradition with The Nationals, the Australian Championships will conclude proceedings in the final week, with a plethora of stars set to tackle the greens of Mount Lawley as they aim to take home the last national titles of this showcase of bowls.
The 2026 Nationals in Perth, Western Australia is proudly supported by the WA Government, Tourism Western Australia and the City of Stirling.
The 2026 Nationals will run from October 2-26, 2026, with live streaming to take place on Bowls Australia’s YouTube channel from the 2nd.
