Melbourne eXtreme fell agonisingly short of finals in the Bowls Premier League competition last week.
The Club Sunbury-backed side was the youngest team in the competition with Brianna Smith joining Jack McShane and Nick Cahill in the team for the BPL22 competition.
Smith was making her BPL debut in the event.
She is part of the Australian Jackaroos squad and was part of the Trans Tasman overall team and overall development women’s champion.
The team concluded the tournament in seventh position, narrowly missing finals qualification by a single win.
In such a tightly contested competition, just two additional victories could have seen the side finish as high as second place. Ten teams were still in the fight for finals heading into the final round.
Across 22 rounds, the team was involved in 15 tie-breakers, highlighting the competitiveness of the campaign.
Unfortunately, a late run of five consecutive losses — all decided on the final bowl — proved costly in the final standings.
Team manager Marc Bullows said all three players played really well.
“Jack McShane and Nick Cahill both delivered consistent and commendable performances throughout the tournament,” he said.
“Debutant Brianna Smith was outstanding, impressing not only with her skill on the green but also with her positive and engaging personality that lifted team morale.”
Due to personal reasons, coach Kelvin Kerkow was a late withdrawal from the tournament with Bullows taking over as coach for the first time.
“I’m no stranger to the players or the competition, so transitioning from manager to coach was a smooth process,” Bullows said.
“Coaching a team of Australian players was an absolute pleasure. It’s hard to tell some of the best players in Australia what to do, but they listened, and in the end, I didn’t feel like the odd one out — we were a team.
“I was thrilled to have the opportunity to coach this group, but I’m looking forward to welcoming Kelvin Kerkow back for BPL23 in Moama this February.”
The Moama Steamers made history as the third franchise to win four titles as they came from behind in the final to beat the Sydney Lions.
The Steamers’ result marks the second straight event where a team finishing on the bottom of the table at the previous event has won the BPL at the very next attempt.
Nathan Black was named the competition most valuable player while Kristina Van Nierop and Aron Sherriff were named in the all-star team.
