BPL17 preview
The bowling fraternity will descend on the Moama Bowling Club for the 17th edition of the Bowls Premier League (BPL) in what is expected to be the most exciting yet.
The Murray River border town will host the tournament for a fourth time and the salubrious talent on show will be breathtaking for bowls fans across the globe, with 17 former champions set to take part in the action.
Two-time defending champions the Melbourne Pulse are back to chase history, striving to become just the second franchise to claim the elusive three-peat and the first team to achieve the feat with the same trio.
Ellen Ryan, Barrie Lester and BPL16 All Star team member Gary Kelly are all back for the Pulse as they aim to join just six other bowlers to win three titles at the tournament.
November’s runner up the Adelaide Pioneers will be as motivated as ever to bring the trophy to South Australia for the first time as five-time finalists Scott Thulborn and Wayne Ruediger team up with New Zealand’s Katelyn Inch once again in their but for glory.
Thulborn ended the Moreton Bay Pirates’ home tournament with an absolute bomb on the final bowl of the tiebreak, leaving Alex Marshall, Jo Edwards and Chris Rosanes as determined as ever to deliver the third trophy to Club Pine Rivers.
The Pirates were one of just two franchises to progress to the finals in all three events in 2022 with the other being the BPL17 home team, the Moama Steamers.
Moama suffered heartbreak in the grand final of BPL14 last year before a pair of fifth place finishes in the two tournaments in Queensland to finish the year.
Five-time MVP and four-time champion Aron Sherriff, dual MVP Ryan Bester and Cassandra Millerick will front up in front of what is expected to be a parochial home crowd if last February’s competition is anything to go by.
The Melbourne eXtreme were agonisingly close to a finals berth in November but missed out on net sets so the franchise will be striving to return to the form that progressed to the BPL15 final last May.
Natasha Van Eldik replaces foundation player Carla Krizanic while Nick Cahill replaces former All Star team member Matt Flapper, who has withdrawn for personal reasons.
Van Eldik and Cahill will team up with APL03 champion Ali Forsyth, who continues his tenure with the squad.
It has been two years since the Perth Suns last reached the finals and after narrowly falling short, Blake Nairn, Kristina Kristic and Cody Packer will be striving to have the orange and black back in action on the coveted final Friday night.
Like the Suns, the Tasmania Tridents were in the mix on the final day in November but were unable to replicate the performance at BPL15 that saw the franchise finish in fourth place.
Two-time BPL All Star Rebecca Van Asch and Taelyn Male will make the trip to the Murray, as will Michael Sims who replaces foundation Tridents team member Mark Nitz.
At the scene of the franchise’s historic fourth BPL crown, the Sydney Lions will be back with fond memories of last year’s event in Moama where Aaron Wilson, Karen Murphy and Ben Twist enjoyed a scintillating finals night to bring home the title.
The Lions fell in their last four matches at BPL16 after being on top of the table for much of the competition to end finals night in fourth place, meaning the trio will be eager to bounce back at a venue that holds fond memories.
Three-time champions the Tweed Heads Ospreys welcome back Chloe Stewart to re-combine with Aaron Teys and reigning MVP Corey Wedlock.
This trio, like the Pulse, have won two titles together and will look to be the first to make it a triple come February 20.
It was a lean event for the Gold Coast Hawks in November, but they were extremely close in a plethora of matches throughout the competition.
Nathan Rice, Kelsey Cottrell and Shannon McIlroy have scored heavily in their two events as a team, so should they translate that into wins, the Hawks will be one of the most difficult prospects for the week.
#BPL17 will run from February, 2023 and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports, Kayo and Sky Sports NZ from Tuesday to Friday from 4pm-10pm AEDT.
