Echuca will be chasing another weekend pennant title when bowls resumes in October.
The region’s bowlers are eagerly anticipating the beginning of the new season, with the Campaspe Playing Area and Premier League competitions set to begin in October.
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Bendigo Campaspe Goldfields Bowls Region president Vicky Tierney indicated the league is ahead of schedule in its preparations for the new season.
“It is (going well),” she said.
“We're way ahead of where we should be.”
The Moama Steamers are three-time defending champions of the Bendigo Campaspe Goldfields Bowls Region Premier League and begin their quest for a fourth consecutive title on Friday, October 2, taking on South Bendigo at Moama Bowling Club.
The Campaspe Playing Area weekend pennant will kick off the next day, with now six divisions in the weekend competition.
Kyabram’s addition to the league created an imbalance of nine sides in division one last year, prompting the introduction of a promotion and relegation system, with just relegation included last year to get the division back to eight.
Rich River was the unfortunate club to finish bottom and will therefore be without a side in the top grade this year, division one featuring Deniliquin, Echuca, Kyabram, Mathoura, Moama, Rochester, Stanhope and Tongala.
Tierney said that currently the format prohibits one club from having two teams in any but the bottom two divisions.
“Bendigo (Playing Area's) ruling is you can have two or more in the bottom two divisions,” she said.
“We haven’t got two teams in any (division) yet up there (in Campaspe weekend), but we're going along with that up there for a start as well.”
Moama is after another dominant season in the midweek pennant.
Echuca is the defending champion, taking down Stanhope in the final.
Divisions one to five include eight clubs each, with the new division six including only five.
Divisions five and six will be played over two rinks, with the four higher grades contesting three rinks.
The midweek pennant will begin the following Tuesday, October 6, with seven clubs taking to the greens in division one.
Deniliquin, Echuca, Kyabram, Rich River, Rochester and Stanhope will be chasing defending champion Moama, which took down Echuca in the decider.
Kyabram has two clubs in division three, Black and Red, the only double up across the playing area.
Division three has also expanded to be played over three rinks alongside divisions one and two, while division four remains at two rinks.
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