The Wellington men and Nelson women have regained their provincial supremacy, winning the 2023 Bowls New Zealand National Intercentre silverware in Christchurch.

Held in near perfect conditions, the four-day event saw 26 (men) and 25 (women) centres battle it out for national honours, with some of the country’s finest talent on display from all corners of the country.

Following three days of section play, the top two teams from each section emerged as quarter-finalists, proceeding to straight elimination in the last eight - hosted by the magnificent Burnside Bowling Club.

The men’s qualifiers were Central Otago, Wanganui, Southland, Auckland, Taranaki, Wellington, Nelson and Northland, while the women’s field saw Auckland, Nelson, North Harbour, Thames Valley, Wellington, Bay of Plenty, Counties Manukau and Wanganui advance.

Played on the Saturday afternoon, the first round of the women’s post-section saw Bay of Plenty defeat Thames Valley, Nelson defeat Wellington, Auckland defeat Counties Manukau and North Harbour clean-sweep Wanganui , while the men’s action saw Northland cause an upset opposite the star-studded Nelson side, Wellington defeat Taranaki, Central Otago advance past Wanganui and a thrilling showdown between last year’s champions Auckland and Southland, with Southland progressing courtesy of a win in the singles and pairs.

While many centres stuck to their selected seven players, the eighth person format came into its own for the Wellington men, with capped-Blackjack Seamus Curtin acknowledging some struggles with his form and standing aside for a team change - which may have proven to be a winning formula for the now- national champions.

The change saw Stephen Ditfort join Andrew Kelly in the pairs, while Caleb Hope stepped in as two in the four. The result saw a cliffhanger semi-final opposite Northland, with reigning National Champion of Champion Singles winner Dean McMurchy continuing his winning form in the singles, defeating Ray Martin and leaving the result up to the outcome of the pairs and fours on adjacent rinks.

An extra end saw Kelly and Ditfort claim one back for Wellington, while the Wellington four of Blake Signal, Finbar McGuigan, Hope and Robbie Bird proved too strong, pushing Wellington through to the grand final.

Across rinks, Southland took control of their semi-final, brushing aside a gallant Central Otago side 3-0, with special mention going to the pairing of Richie and Conor Muir (unrelated), who until that point had not lost a game in seven starts.

The final saw an inspired effort from Martin in the singles, finding another level to defeat the previously unbeaten Sheldon Bagrie-Howley 25-15, while the Southland pairing of Craig Merrilees and Craig Tinker continued their unstoppable form, comfortably defeating Kelly and Ditfort 22-9. This meant the title outcome lay with the fours, with large parts of the game in favour of Southland’s Elliot Mason, Shane Elliot, Nick Buttar and Dan Fiveash.

However, clearly buoyed by the performance of Martin, Signal’s troops found another gear and powered home to give Wellington the intercentre spoils, 13-10 - in an entertaining finish to the competition.

Meanwhile, the women’s line-up in the semi-final fixtures saw Nelson defeat Bay of Plenty in the singles and pairs, while Auckland advanced opposite North Harbour, courtesy of narrow wins in the singles and fours.

The final saw former world number one Jo Edwards complete a perfect nine from nine record, defeating Linda Ralph 25-21 to secure advantage to Nelson. However, a dominant showing from Auckland’s Olivia Bloomfield and Paris Baker levelled the playing field at 1-1, defeating Val Smith and Colleen Earl 22-9, which again put all focus on the fours.

With all eyes on the fours, Nelson’s Kirsten Edwards, Amy McIlroy, Kay Hammond and Barbara Thomason crept over the line by a solitary point opposite Ashleigh Jeffcoat’s quartet, securing the silverware and marking the fourth win in the last ten years, and their sixth overall as a province Subsequently, this is the third win for the Wellington men since the inception of the event in 1970, adding to their maiden win in 2008 and their impressive victory in 2018.

-Sam Morton

The winning team members: 

𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻 (Men)

Robbie Bird

Seamus Curtin

Steve Ditfort

Caleb Hope

Andrew Kelly

Finbar McGuigan

Ray Martin

Blake Signal

Rod Leitch (Manager)

Mike Carroll (Coach)

𝗡𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗻 (Women)

Colleen Earl

Jo Edwards

Kirsten Edwards

Di Holland

Kay Hammond

Amy McIlroy

Val Smith

Barbara Thomason

Mary Orbell (Manager)

Dave Edwards (Coach)