Keegan rolling towards a chance at Glasgow
Julie Keegan is hoping to impress selectors at the Australia v Malaysia International in Ocean Grove next week Revitalised by a shock recall to the national squad, the Coast’s Julie Keegan is intent on pressing her claims for a spot at next year’s Commonwealth Games in Scotland, as Steele Tayor reports for the Sunshine Coast Daily.
So committed is Keegan to the cause, she has spent countless hours training at local croquet clubs, where the surface more closely resembles the incredibly slow greens of Glasgow.
The Kelvingrove rinks are expected to run at about 11 seconds, at least six seconds slower than anywhere in Australia.
“It’s like playing in your backyard, that’s how slow it is,” Keegan said.
“We don’t have any greens that are that slow in Australia that are regularly in play, so you need to look for something that’s been let go and or is just under renovation.
“The croquet greens at Buderim, Noosa and Coolum have been pretty good – almost perfect preparation actually.
“Also our green at Kawana has just gone out for renovation so it’s been nice and furry, so I’ve been having a bit of a go on that as well.”
Keegan’s training regime should stand in her good stead for next week’s unofficial Australian selection trials at Geelong, where greens have been prepared to replicate the conditions of Scotland.
She is one of nine women in the Australian squad, which will clash with Malaysia in a friendly.
Among the others is fellow Sunshine Coast product Kelsey Cottrell.
With just five women to be selected in the team for Scotland, Keegan is eager to impress.
“Basically what they’ll do after the Test is reduce it (the number of women) or have more camps,” she said.
Keegan counts herself lucky to be a contender after essentially giving up on next year’s Games.
She claimed a silver medal in triples at the 2010 Games in Delhi but had seemingly slipped off the international lawn bowls scene in recent times.
That changed when she got a phone call from national coach Steve Glasson.
“I wasn’t thinking of next year’s Games at all and then I got the call and he said: ‘We’ve opened the book again and we’ve got a few people we want to have a look at. We want you to come along to the next camp’,” Keegan said.
She subsequently trialled at Maribyrnong and survived the cut to earn a spot in the national squad for next week’s game.
“I’ve been training hard for the last couple of months because I’m back in the mix again,” she said.
“I just want to give it every opportunity. I’ve been given another chance so I’ll give it my best and see what happens.”
Keegan believed it was her proven skills on sluggish surfaces that encouraged selectors to have another look at her.
“I have had some good results on slower greens at the Comm Games at India and I have played a lot of games at Malaysia and Hong Kong,” she said.
“I’ve had a lot of success playing on slow greens and that’s who (Australia selectors) are focusing on.”
