2024 Australian Championships preview
The concluding week of The Nationals is right around the corner with arguably the biggest field in tournament history set to grace the greens of Broadbeach for the 2024 Australian Championships.
A title at this event holds great esteem as it allows bowlers a chance to lay a claim on being the best in the country at a particular discipline.
It holds a rich history of previous winners, from state stalwarts to Commonwealth Games gold medallists, and the 2024 competition looks like the most exciting one yet.
Triples
As always, triples action kicks off proceedings on the opening Monday of the tournament, with both the men’s and women’s competition full to the brim with talent.
The women’s draw sees 2021 champions in Tasmania’s Debra Lee, Jess McMullen and Rebecca Van Asch return in a bid to once again conquer the discipline at the same venue as their previous winning campaign.
Lee and McMullen are a sensational story, winning a national gold medal as mother and daughter in what was a brilliant week.
The opposing section to the Tasmanians sees some extremely strong lineups, including the New South Wales team of Brianna Smith, Samantha Ferguson and Dawn Hayman, with the latter competing in four of the five events across the week.
Also situated in section two with New South Wales are a strong Western Australian unit of Therese Hastings, Hailey Packer and Right at Home Jackaroo Kristina Krstic.
Switching across to the men’s field and an in form Jack McShane is one of the major headlines having taken out the 2024 Australian Open men’s pairs title at Broadbeach, as well as the Australian Indoor Championships crown in August.
He will suit up alongside Thomas Rich and Heath Lewis for New South Wales as he bids for more Australian glory this calendar year.
In the opposite section lie a strong Queensland outfit in Andrew Evan, Jake Rynne and Emerging Jackaroo Kane Nelson in what will be a tough lineup to overcome.
Pairs
All 16 pairs teams across the entire field are strong, with an abundance of elite bowlers set to stake their claim for bragging rights.
The men’s field sees former Australian Champion of Champions winner Trystan Smallacombe teaming up with Gregory Wetzler for the Northern Territory, with their first match against former Australian Open pairs finalists in Ben Winther and Brett Spurr from New South Wales.
Pathways Jackaroo Dale McWhinney-Shillington and his partner in Dean McWhinney are also situated in the section for Queensland, as are Victoria’s James Scullin and William McIlwain.
The second group sees former BPL Cup winner Craig Mills in the hunt for more national silverware as he partners Will McPharlin from South Australia.
Dawn Hayman will again suit up for New South Wales in the women’s draw as she partners Natasha Russell, with Western Australian stalwarts in Linda Warburton and Lisa Featherby also looming large in section one.
Van Asch will feature in her second event of the tournament with Jean Claridge for Tasmania, with their first matchup against the ACT’s Emerging Jackaroo Chloe Morrison and her teammate in Kristen Steele.
Northern Territory stalwarts in Anita Rhook and Siobhan Tootell also feature in the draw.
Fours
The women’s fours field rivals the quality of an international tournament with some serious star power across the eight teams.
Queensland’s squad of Kira Bourke, Lynsey Clarke, Chloe Stewart and Kelsey Cottrell has landed in the same section as the New South Wales team of Jamie-Lee Worsnop, Jessie Cottell, Mia Hotson (in for Ellen Fife) and Karen Murphy, with Tootell to skip the Northern Territory team and Australian Open women’s singles semifinalist Sharon Cavanagh at the back end of the South Australian lineup.
Van Asch will feature in her third straight event as the skip of the Tasmanian quartet, while Krstic and will skip the same Western Australian team that finished as the runner up at the same event in 2021 with Helen Heal, Robyn O’Brien and Packer as her front three.
Former mixed pairs title holder Gayle Young will also be back in action as part of the ACT lineup.
In the men’s field, Jackaroo Nathan Black will line up with his long time partner in crime in Craig Mills as they look for more national glory, while former Australian representative Dylan Fisher will line up for Victoria.
Australia’s number one ranked male bowler Josh Walker-Davis is also in the field for Tasmania, while Queensland will boast Emerging Jackaroos Cody Gerick and Kane Nelson.
New South Wales will be bolstered by the presence of Lee Schraner in the lineup having won a plethora of national titles throughout his career so far.
Singles
The women’s singles field will be one of the most hotly contested fields across the entire tournament with four international representatives and an Emerging Jackaroo in the draw.
Section one sees Dawn Hayman against the likes of Chloe Morrison and Canadian star Kelly McKerihen as well as former Champion of Champions winner and Australian Indoors semifinalist Colleen Orr.
Kristina Krstic and Chloe Stewart headline the second pool, with South Australia’s Unyamanee Moffatt joining them.
Defending champion and Jackaroo Cody Packer will headline the men’s field, with South Australia’s Mills also in his section.
Brendan Wilson will suit up for Queensland in the same section as New South Wales’ Jay Breust and Jay Bye-Norris, who will represent Victoria.
Mixed pairs
2021 champions in Kelly McKerihen and Ali Forsyth are back as they look for another title to add to their growing trophy cabinets.
Their section sees them against supremely talented opposition pairings, including the New South Wales’ fiancees of Thomas Webb and Dawn Hayman, as well as Queensland’s Bolivia Millerick and Kane Nelson and Tasmania’s Amity Bickley and Codi Marshall.
Section one is headlined by South Australia’s Kate Argent-Bowden and Nathan Black, who will come up against Colleen and Barry Orr of the Northern Territory, Bill Brandsma and Lisa Featherby of Western Australia and Ruth Moore and Jamie Smith of the ACT.
The 2024 Australian Championships will run from October 21-25, 2024, with live streaming to take place on Bowls Australia’s YouTube channel.
