Sport
28 February, 2026
Fate favours Wedderburn in grand final venue
WEDDERBURN will have the advantage of playing on its home green when it appears in next Saturday’s North Central Division 2 bowls grand final.
After beating St Arnaud Country 71-57 in the preliminary final, Wedderburn will face Wycheproof in the decider.
The team’s good fortune, however, came at the expense of the Division 1 side, which lost its preliminary final match to Wycheproof.
Division 1 grand finals are scheduled for a neutral venue.
But in Division 2, the combatants play at the same time and in the same location as the Division 1 sides.
Had Wedderburn’s Division 1 team been successful, the Division 2 side may have ended up playing at Wycheproof in a repeat of last season’s grand final venue.
Wedderburn’s Lance Standfield, whose Division 2 rink lost 26-20, said his team conceded too big a start to their opponents and fell short despite closing the margin following the mid-game break. It could have been worse – Country Club was holding seven shots on one end before Standfield managed to turn that into one-up for Wedderburn with his final bowl.
He said Colin Mills’ rink regrouped after a couple of tough weeks for a big 31-14 win, while John Grant’s team got home by three shots.
Standfield said Tony Benaim, Grant’s second, was outstanding in the narrow victory.
In Division 1, Wycheproof defeated Wedderburn 78-53 and will play Donald Golf in the grand final.
Alan Jackson’s rink won their match 22-17 last Saturday but the other two teams lost by a combined 30 shots to bow out of the finals.