The Hawks soar again
The Hawks last State Pennant title was in 2009 and they were thrilled to grab the flag back in 2016 (Pictured left: The triumphant Helensvale Hawks proudly celebrate victory in the 2016 Men’s State Pennant Final at Bribie Island Bowls Club, finally breaking a six year drought for the powerhouse Gold Coast Tweed District club in pursuit of the prestigious Division One flag.)
The Helensvale Hawks are back on the top perch as QLD’s top men’s Pennant team after an undefeated run through the 2016 State Pennant Division One Final at Bribie Island Bowls Club this weekend (Nov 26-27).
But it was the State runner up that captured the imagination of the crowd, a debutante at the State Final, country club Chinchilla, who managed to sneak into the final on a margin and take it up to the state’s most powerful club team.
The Hawks deserved their win and they were gracious in victory – and it was hardly the one-sided affair some imagined it might be.
Chinchilla had nothing to lose and they almost cut the wings of the mighty Hawks, going down by only five shots at the end of 63 long ends over three rinks, 64-59.
In fact, Chinchilla won two of the rinks, Brian “Dead Eye Dick” Turner outplaying Helensvale skip Andrew Howie 22-19 in the final and Chinchilla’s Billy George triumphant by one magnificant shot over Helensvale skip Adam White.
Unfortunately for Chinchilla, it was Gerard Bellgrave who drew the short straw, against former international Nathan Rice, who won the Hawks their flag, 27-8.
“We’re really happy to be here, we knew Chinchilla would be tough after they beat Maryborough Services earlier today by such a big margin to get into the final, we knew their confidence would be up and they’d play like they had nothing to lose,” Rice said.
“We really enjoyed the game, they really took it up to us, and I’m just so proud of our boys and so proud to win this event again, it’s six years since we’ve been here so yes, we were out to win, there was definitely no taking it easy.”
“It’s true, we had NOTHING to lose, we played with no fear,” Gerard Bellgrove said.
“I got to play against Nathan Rice, he smashed me, but we just had an incredible time, we just don’t get to play against players of this quality out in Chinchilla, this is brilliant for our club.”
Chinchilla team manager Harold Waldron says his team was grateful for a chance.
“We came to the State Pennant with the full intention of doing the best we could and we have done that, we have done very well for a small country club,” Waldron said.
“The competition and the atmosphere has been brilliant and the team has thoroughly enjoyed it and they are getting a chance to lift their game a lot playing teams like Helensvale in this state final.”
To view the full results head to the BQ results page available here.
2016 State Pennant Final results:
Club Helensvale defeated Chinchilla 64 – 59 (five shots)
Winners: Club Helensvale
Stephen Sail, Rohan Wilson, Des Cann and Nathan Rice(s)
Mark Thatcher, Matthew Lucas, Jayden Christie and Andrew Howie(s)
Matthew Bell, Braidan Leese, Anthony Kiepe and Adam White(s)
Manager – Les Miller
Runners-up: Chinchilla
David Jones, Billy Reid, Andrew Raguse and Gerard Bellgrove(s)
Geoff Lyson, Peter Jones, Peter Bellgrove and Brian Turner(s)
Desmond Obst, Bruce Maguire, John Gray and Billy George(s)
Manager – Harold Waldron