Gold Coast Hawks to return to Bowls Premier League
Former champion team, the Gold Coast Hawks will re-enter the Bowls Premier League (BPL) to make the tournament a ten-team competition for Moama’s BPL14 in February, 2022.
The franchise, held by Queensland’s Club Helensvale, was last seen in BPL09 back in February 2019, with Aron Sherriff, Nathan Rice and Georgia White guiding the team to a fourth-place finish.
Sherriff, a four-time BPL champion, will return following his second stint with the Sydney Lions, with his Hawks’ championship winning teammate Rice also suiting up again.
Jackaroo and former BPL champion Kelsey Cottrell rounds out the trio after switch allegiances from the Brisbane Pirates, while former Jackaroo Anthony Kiepe will coach the side in its return to the competition.
Rice, who has been absent from the tournament since 2019, is brimming with excitement to return to the carpet under the lights on the Murray, and describes an optimistic feeling around the club.
“The club is really excited, it’s been a few years out of it [the BPL], so everyone around the club, the members and players are really excited and getting their gear all ready to go and I’m pretty sure we’re gonna have a pretty good supporter group out there,” Rice said.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back out there, I’ve been pretty quiet on the bowls green so it will be nice to get back out there on TV and in amongst it all.
“We’re pretty blessed with who we’ve got here with Aron and Kelsey working here and playing for us.
“We’re lucky enough to have Kelsey back now, she’s done a great job for Brisbane for a lot of years and it makes my job a lot easier, I’ll just probably have to play my nine bowls and and let those two do all the work.”
Club Helensvale Chairman, Paul Wilson, says the Club’s entire membership is thrilled to see the Hawks return to the tournament, and is buoyed by the team that will represent the club in Moama next February.
“The whole club is over the moon to be back,” he said.
“We’ve been looking forward to getting back in for a couple of years now, so when we were given the opportunity by [Bowls Australia’s CEO] Neil [Dalrymple], we thought we’d grab it.
“I think we’ve got one of the strongest teams in there, and we’ve also got Anthony Kiepe as our coach.
“This is so important to the Gold Coast, as we’re the only Gold Coast team, we’ve been out for so long so it’s fantastic to be back and it will be the first time we’ve used three of our own players.”
Bowls Australia (BA) CEO Neil Dalrymple is excited at the prospect of the Hawks returning to the BPL and hopes that they can bring even more excitement to the made-for-television spectacle.
“The Hawks hold a special place in BPL history as former champions of the event and we look forward to seeing the team back at the tournament,” he said.
“Club Helensvale brings enormous passion for the sport of bowls and there is no doubt that the spectators will flock to Moama and Club Pine Rivers to support the team.
“With playing pedigree of the utmost quality in Aron Sherriff, Kelsey Cottrell and Nathan Rice, the Hawks will be a challenging force to the other nine franchises.”
#BPL14 will run from February 21-25, 2022 and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports, Kayo and Sky Sports NZ for 24 hours across four nights.
