Queensland and New South Wales clinch Sides Series

by Val Febbo on October 9, 2022

New South Wales has claimed overall honours at the first Australian Sides Championships since 2019, picking up where the state left off three years ago by defending the victory and claiming a third consecutive combined victory at Broadbeach.

The state maintained its dominance over the Marj Morris Trophy by taking yet another women’s crown with an unblemished record throughout the quartet of days, while they would have to settle for second position in the men’s tournament with Queensland winning its first Alley Shield since 2014.

Both states had their respective competitions with New South Wales’ men’s team just needing to account for Western Australia in the final game to secure the overall trophy.

Commencing the morning against the Northern Territory, the blues would seal a ninth title in the past ten tournaments with a 90-27 win to again assert dominance on the rest of the nation.

Queensland would finish the competition in second ahead of Western Australia in third position and Victoria in fourth.

Tasmania would take fifth ahead of South Australia with the Australian Capital Territory finishing in front of the Northern Territory to round out the tournament.

In the men’s competition Queensland just needed a draw against Tasmania in the opening game to ensure the shield would head north, and that was the exact result as the maroon squad would achieve against the Apple Isle as the tie ended at 58 apiece.

It would be enough to distance the state from the nearest rival in Western Australia, despite the state achieving a win against Victoria in the penultimate round.

WA would face New South Wales in the final match of the day to battle for second place, and it was the easterners who prevailed with silver by a measly four shots and seal the state’s overall win.

South Australia’s win over Tasmania in the final tie would propel them into third, with the state’s western counterparts in fourth.

Victoria claimed fifth position ahead of its southern opponents, with the ACT edging out the Northern Territory again to take seventh.

The best rink gold medal for the women’s competition was awarded to the New South Wales team of Sarah Boddington, Anne Johns, Kay Moran and Dawn Hayman with the men’s award going to Queensland’s Cohen Litfin, Barrie Lester, Brett Wilkie and Nathan Rice.