After losing last season’s Geelong Bowls Region Pennant Premier semi-final by the barest of margins, there is a sense of optimism for the 2025/26 campaign at Queenscliff.
Queenscliff lost by one shot to Torquay in the 2024/25 semi and had to work hard to hold off a fast-finishing Drysdale in the opening round of the new season on Saturday 25 October, but emerged 74 to 72 victors.
Rink 3 skip Mitch Hocking made the move to the Bellarine this season from perennial powerhouse Highton and is relishing the new challenge.
A meeting during the offseason with Ray Butler and Steve Sullivan convinced Hocking to play with the Coutas.
“I was just planning on having a few months off and not thinking about bowls, but they sent me a message and put through an offer to me,” he said.
“Playing (against) them last year, they’re all a bunch of good blokes and you could definitely tell it was a nice tight-knit community, so it was pretty much a no-brainer to join them.”
On Saturday, Hocking’s rink of lead Craig Heard, second Barry Gladman and third Jackson Reilly prevailed 22 to 15 against Drysdale’s Bryant Howie, James Miller, Mark Neicho and Mark Johnson.
“They all bowled really well,” Hocking said.
“We got out to a pretty handy lead early and pretty much the whole game. They came back at us pretty hard, but we managed to keep our nerve and win some ends when we needed to.”
Hocking said it was highly likely his rink will remain unchanged for the season other than unavailability.
“That’s how we lined up for three of our practice matches and then obviously yesterday, so I would say moving forward, it looks pretty likely,” he said.
“Definitely those practice matches helped me get to know how those boys play and what their strengths and whatnot are. So it’s been pretty good so far. I feel like we’re all getting along together pretty well.”
Hocking praised the game of Reilly in particular.
“He was probably our best by a long way,” he said.
“He’s a character. He is what he is – very loud and he bowled very well yesterday.”
Overall, Queenscliff got out to an early lead against their Bellarine counterparts although Drysdale, which is also expected to contend this season, hit back.
“We had a fairly good lead pretty much the whole day and then Drysie came back at us in the last ten to fifteen ends,” Hocking said.
“They pulled back really hard and nearly pipped us.”
Hocking said that picking up a close win against a good side early in the season was a huge boost, especially with Queenscliff playing its first three matches away from home.
“If you have a handful of those games that could go either way, if you lose them, then you definitely look like you’d be missing the top four,” he said.
“So it’s definitely important to get those close ones under the belt and just get the points for the match.”
GEELONG BOWLS REGION
Round 1, Saturday 25 October
Pennant Premier
Ocean Grove 112 def Lara 44 (points Ocean Grove 18, Lara 0): B. Pavey 42 def D. Grellet 5, T. Cromie 28 def M. Kelly 10, M. Flapper 21 def B. Umbers 19, P. Loe 21 def K. Weil 10.
Queenscliff 74 def Drysdale 72 (points Queenscliff 15, Drysdale 3): R. Butler 21 tied with J. Monahan 21, S. Sullivan 18 def M. Godbolt 15, M. Hocking 22 def B. Howie 15, B. Russell 13 def by A. Rees 21.
Torquay 100 def Bell Post Hill 71 (points Torquay 16, Bell Post Hill 2): J. Banks 36 def D. Gillett 13, N. Ball 28 def K. Matthews 18, D. Cairns 16 def by D. Gercke 23, D. Kitchin 20 def B. Toner 17.
Highton 84 def Eastern Park 83 (points Highton 14, Eastern Park 4): S. Shuttleworth 21 def N. Bell 17, S. McLachlan 17 def by S. McDonald 25, David Priddle 26 def T. Balchan 18, Dan Priddle 20 def by A. Martin 23.
Division 1
City of Geelong 86 def Leopold 79 (points City of Geelong 16, Leopold 2): J. Snell 21 def B. Anderson 17, M. Nitchie 21 def by M. Willis 25, D. Vogele 22 def C. Sproal 20, S. Tillson 22 def T. Dickson-Arthur 17.
Belmont 91 def Highton 59 (points Belmont 14, Highton 4): R. Hayes 17 def O. Landry 11, S. Davies 20 def by R. Imanse 24, J. Harris 19 def by N. Oakes 21, R. Agg 35 def M. Cavanagh 3.
St Leonards 76 def Ocean Grove 73 (points St Leonards 15, Ocean Grove 3): A. Long 18 def H. O’Reilly 16, A. Hills 15 tied with M. West 15, M. Kennedy 23 def by R. Brehaut 24, H. Dahler 20 def A. Drury 18.
Portarlington 101 def Geelong 57 (points Portarlington 17, Geelong 1): B. Hirth 26 def T. Thompson 13, G. Reed 17 tied with B. Wilson 17, B. Lockyer 24 def G. Harrison 12, M. Dennis 34 def A. Crooke 15.
