15. Gold

That off-season I continued to play Indoor Bias Bowls at Mount Cottrell and had made a decision to finally enter the Victorian Junior Singles. This was played at Sunshine, so it was easy to access for me living in Melton. I had talked Robert into entering so we could both have a shot at the State title.

The morning arrived and I was up bright and early and in the car with Pop down to Sunshine. The draw was out and there were only about 14 entries for the whole championship. I saw this as a Golden Opportunity to win my first Indoor Bias Bowls State title. I was very confident with indoor bowls and I had developed a real knack for the game, including skipping a Mount Cottrell team to the finals that same winter.

Robert was knocked out in the first round by Shaun Membery from Warrnambool who seemed to be a pretty good player. I had won my first two games without any problem, reaching 30 shots in both my games of 16 ends. I heard a few murmurs around the indoor mats that day from some of the experienced campaigners who finally thought that Victoria may have a decent junior. Looking at past results, the Victorian Juniors had been smashed left, right and centre over the past five years.

I lined up against Shaun Membery in the semi final and despite a tight first half in the match, broke away to win 18-10. My worst match was in the final against Scott Rutherford, but my performance was just enough to get me home 17-12 in a tight tussle. I had won my first state title! WOO HOO!

In the weeks following, I had to attend the Junir State Trials for the two junior boys positions available. Six players were invited back and we played a round robin format of 8 ends against the five other players. I won four of my matches and had a 5-5 tie with Robert, leaving me on top of the pool. Robert finished second and Shaun Membery finished third. The selectors announced the side later that day and Shaun and I had made the team. Unfortunately for Robert, he had missed out.

The Nationals were in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast. Thanks to some sponsorship efforts from Sylvia Veal and the Mount Cottrell Bowls Club, my airfares and accommodation were covered without any worries. It was the first time I had ever been on a plane and it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

On arrival, I knew nothing about the juniors or how the format of the Nationals actually worked. After sussing out the draw and conditions, I realised that two juniors were there from QLD, SA, NSW, TAS and VIC. One junior was in each section. We would play four round robin matches and the section winners would play off in the National final.

My first match was against the 1997 runner-up from NSW, Noel Wraight. To my surprise, I had a massive win, beating him 31-9. It certainly was a great way to start my Victorian Representation. Not just this, I won the ‘VicPick’ award for Victoria’s ‘Player of the Day’. I was so excited.

My round two match was against the 1997 Champion, Brett Davis from South Australia. I had watched a little bit of his opening game and he was absolutely devastating on full length. I knew the only way I could compete was to roll the jack just over the 20 foot minimum line and nail the jack with my first bowl. It was one of the best games I ever played, scoring a 24-10 victory and favouritism to win the section.

The heat started to play its toll as I scraped through my Round 3 match against Lennon Scott from Tasmania 22-20. Only Tony Williams from QLD stood in my way of winning the section and I had to play him the following morning.

Friday morning came and I think nerves got the better of me. Tony beat me 24-22 but the result seemed closer than it was as I had scored a maximum of 4 shots in the final end. He remained undefeated in the section and just had to win his last game to get through. My shot differential was better, so if he lost, I would get through. My BYE was in the fifth round, so I was able to watch his game very closely.

To my relief, Brett Davis smashed him and I qualified for the final with 3 wins and the best shots up. My opponent was Sean Thomas from QLD, the six foot rugby built 15 year old who had been playing since he was old enough to walk.

The National final was mostly a blur, mainly due to my concentration being at the most intensive level possible for someone at my age. I got off to a good start and led 17-11 with two ends to go. Sean played a great penultimate end, leaving me three down on the head with both of us having one bowl to play. If I failed with my last, I was certain to do 4 and go into the last end a nervous wreck.

We were on the very first mat and directly under the basketball ring in the stadium. The key section of the court made the mat do some funny things, especially on the backhand going towards the grandstand. It was only about one-third carpet width to grass the bowl, which was abnormally narrow for any indoor mat. I knew this as I played my final bowl, knowing that anything wide of the head would not impact the three down lie.

The bowl came out well but slightly under the line I wanted. I remember wanting to reach the three shot bowls knowing that anything short would not impact the head. To my excitement, the bowl stood up the entire length of the mat, leaned on the shot bowl and fell onto the jack for a knocker. I was so excited I reckon if someone threw a basketball at me, I could jump up and slam it in the ring.

Sean’s vicious attempt to take the bowl out moved every single bowl on the mat but the shot bowl. I would enter the last end 7 shots up and unless a pure accident occurred, I would win the National Junior Singles.

The last end was a non event as I conceded one shot and claimed my very first National Title. Lee Schraner, 1998 Victorian & Australian Indoor Bias Bowls Singles Champion.

Has a bit of a ring to it, don’t you agree?