Malua Bay's Peter Keatley Wins Rookie Singles State Final

BY BILLY JOHNSON First Published in Bowls New South Wales

Peter Keatley (Malua Bay) is the 2022-23 Rookie Singles State Champion, beating Michael Winter (Camden) in a high quality final. Despite the 17-5 score line, both players were in great touch, drawing magnificently on the undercover Raymond Terrace surface. Keatley was in a ruthless mood, drawing shot after shot and placing incredible pressure on Winter. There were moments of brilliance from Winter, but the Camden Rams representative couldn’t answer all the challenges thrown down by Keatley, who jumped away to an early lead and never let up on the way to victory.

Both finalists went through their sections unbeaten, recording solid wins across their three rounds. Keatley boasted an impressive +28 shot margin from his three matches, while Winter amassed +14 shots from his three victories. Their semi-final clashes were both classics, each going down to the wire.

Winter came up against Dan Scanlan (Engadine), who was in fine form. Scanlan jumped out to an early lead, before Winter closed the gap and eventually took a slender lead 13-12. Both players exchanged shots consistently, Winter often drawing close only to see Scanlan trail the jack or sit out the shot bowl with supreme accuracy. At 15-13 up, Winter was holding another count of two, and Scanlan looked to be on the perfect line yet again to trail the jack away. Unfortunately for the Engadine Cougar, his bowl only clipped the jack, tucking it closer to Winter’s shot bowl. Winter held one with one to play, and delicately drew close enough to secure a 17-13 win and his passage to the final.

Keatley was quick out of the blocks against recently crowned Rookie State Pairs Champion Rick Lucey (Cabra -Vale), leading 12-5 off the back of some clinical draw bowling. Lucey, realising he needed to change the flow of the match, played a slightly more aggressive game, and it paid immediate dividends. Lucey led 13-12, and looked to be running away with the game, but Keatley had other ideas. He stuck firm to his draw game –a clear strength for the Malua Bay representative – and got over the line 17-15, drawing within inches of the jack with what would be his last bowl of the match.

It may have been that confidence boost that pushed Keatley to new heights in the final. Whatever it was, it worked for Keatley and left him almost speechless when accepting his winners’ medal. Winter was gracious in defeat, complimenting his opposition on the incredible bowls he played in the final. Winter should also be proud of his efforts, as he displayed ability and temperament well beyond his few years in the sport as a rookie – a bright future ahead in the sport for the young Camden Ram!

Earlier in the afternoon, the Mick Bell Award was presented to Susie Simmons (Bathurst City). The award is presented to the player that best embodies the spirit and sportsmanship of the Rookies event. We were fortunate enough to have the man himself, Mick Bell, at Raymond Terrace to watch the event, and he was in complete agreement that Susie Simmons was a worthy recipient, presenting the award to her himself. Congratulations to Peter, Michael, Susie and all the Rookie qualifiers who played over the weekend.

The Rookies is a key event on the Bowls NSW calendar, and we look forward to running it again – bigger and better than ever!

Peter Keatley (Malua Bay)

Moruya River.

We have had yet another great week in the Moruya system, with nice numbers of fish being reported. A pleasant surprise has been the numbers of good sized tailor that have made their way back into the system. They have been concentrated from quarry wharf down past Preddy’s wharf and down to the river entrance. Small metals cast and retrieved work well, as have baits with a bit of bite protec on. White bait on size 2 gang hooks being a prime example.

If you can get a bait down underneath any tailor schools, you will most likely find a few nice sized flathead, that will be picking up any scraps that the choppers have missed.

The flats around the airport have been holding a few nice whi ng that can be en ced on surface popper style lures, they can also be found in behind the hole in The wall. This same area, holds some nice bream on a rising de in and around the oyster racks. So plas cs, poppers, hard body lures and bait can all tempt a few bream to come out of the racks.

The northern bank from the bridge down to Malabar creek is a great stretch to walk the bank throwing so plas cs for a few nice flathead, or get comfy with some bait and burley and have the fish come to you. Under the town bridge a er dark on the rising to full de, the flats under the bridge are holding good numbers of flathead, bream and the odd estuary perch. If you don’t mind a night session, some good fish can be taken here. Tuross river.

This is going to be a very busy system this weekend, with the annual Tuross Bream & Flathead comp on this Canberra day long weekend. There is going to be a lot of ac vity here, with I believe over 200 entrants signed up for the weekend’s compe on. The systems has been producing some very nice flathead for those that know where to look. This last week alone has produced at least 1 flathead over the magic 1m mark and another at 98cm. Please remember to support any big fish for the obligatory happy snap before releasing it. Please don’t hang the fish ver cally as you will most likely be doing substan al damage to the fish in the process. There have been good numbers of big whi ng available on the flats for those using squirt worms as bait or on surface popper style lures. Whi ng are like a kid with ADHD, once the lure stops moving those loose a en on. So keep that surface lure moving in a quickish erra c ac on, and you should have 3 or 4 whi ng shouldering each other out of the way to chase your lure. Bream on the other hand prefer a pause on the surface lure, so it pays to be able to work out what fish you are cas ng to. A good pair of polarised sunnies can be the difference to knowing what you are cas ng to and guessing.

The fish have been ac ve throughout the system, which is good given the number of anglers entered this weekend. I can see that there will boats from the front of the system all the way to the back of the system this weekend. Good luck to all those who have entered. Rock and beach.

Salmon and tailor have been the norm on the beaches this week, with a few bream and whi ng in the gu ers at your feet. For the bream and whi ng, try the areas adjacent to rocky headlands that will offer some mixed ground. There con nue to be some good drummer from the rocks, with reports of bonito available early morning from the stones. Kingfish are also a possibility to turn up given the water temps at the moment. Early morning will be the best me before the wind comes up, and Saturday will be the pick of the days. Offshore.

Snapper, flathead, gummies, tuna & Marlin have all been reported this last week. The currents are strong and warm at the moment with off shore waters hi ng 25 degrees and full of slimies in areas. What ever you are a er, keep an eye on the weather condi ons as there is a bit of wind forecast this weekend and a bit of rain for Sunday. Moruya Bar camera is a great asset to all offshore boa es looking to head out. We currently have a great deal running on all Atomic Arrowz rods in store at the moment, with 25% off RRP for the month of March. The sale ends at the end of the month. So if you were looking at a new Atomic Arrowz rod, we have them in store to suit the bream guys all the way up to the land based cas ng and beach guys. Come in and have a look.

The bait freezer is again well stocked for the weekend, worms, mullet fillet and whole mullet are s ll unavailable at the moment.

I am happy to say we have had a bit of interest in the casual weekend posi on we have been adver sing for a while now, but we are s ll con nuing to take resumes at the moment. So please if you know anyone or are interested yourself, drop in and hand in a resume. Stay safe everyone, and remember “every days a good day for fishing…” beagle abode: the leading online weekly Eurobodalla real estate guide, showcasing the current Eurobodalla, and wider South Coast property market

Team Tackle World Moruya.