After coming back from Melbourne and settling back into some sort of routine I really feel great again. I've found a better balance with training, work, study and poker.
Our Premier League team has copped a bit of flack for constantly changing its roster.
After three tough loses on the road to Taren Point, Engadine and Warilla; we have now managed to win three games in a row. It is good to finally string some wins together in the Premier League. We flew to Wagga Wagga and had a pretty tight tussle with the Riverina Team. Then we had a double header this weekend starting on Friday night against Birrong, which we ran away with in the end.
On Sunday against Toongabbie it was a much closer game; we started well and finished well. Towards the middle of the game the Titans were in control but we managed to regain the momentum we built earlier by scoring on all rinks and over taking them on the master board. I think Toongabbie may wonder how they lost control of that game. It certainly seemed like we scored 20 shots in a row and were suddenly 10 in front with only 10 ends to play.
The last 3 wins puts us back in the top 6. We currently sit 5th and have quite a few home games up our sleeve. With the rule change back to retaining the mat, when scoring, the games overall have been much closer. There is also a strong trend for the home team to have a clear advantage.
I really feel we have a strong chance of figuring in the finals. We were evenly matched in both very tough away games against Engadine and Warilla. I would love to play them at home. Taren Point were dominant however, and I feel it would take something special to beat them in a final series game. We will be tested in the next few weeks and we need to consistently convert our opportunities at home and against teams that may be struggling internally.
I have had the time and opportunity this week to chill out and go to a couple of parties. I spent most of the week around the City and it was a great week where I had some quality time with people I care greatly for. Late night dessert was a highlight at a place where I had eaten breakfast earlier in the week. I did some shopping on Saturday, bought some clothes and booked some trips and paid entry fees for various tournaments.
One tournament I'm really looking forward too is the New Zealand Open in Auckland. This will probably be my last trip with the NSW Institute of Sport. I had a really good one on one with Cam Curtis (before he took on his new role with Roselands) where I decided that my focus on representative bowls would be reduced and move on towards other areas in life.
I learnt so much from my time at the Institute about life in general and I met some of the most amazing people from within the sport and also on the coaching and administration side. Some of these people greatly changed my life and through these exceptional people I was able to positively influence the direction of other young people in sport.
My experience with Hills Shire Sports stands out in my mind as a great experience for talented athletes in the area but also for my own understanding and personal development. I learnt so much from these kids and it really made me reflect on why I participate in sport and where my motivations, goals and achievements were driven from.
I set many goals for myself to achieve by the time I was 25. I have achieved most of them. Some of them were modest, others were outlandish. I did enjoy the journey. From New Years in New York to playing U25’s for Australia. I had academic, sporting, relationship and other goals. I am at a stage where I am reassessing all of these for the future. I feel I am in a better place now to judge what is appropriate for myself than when I was 17. The process is on going and I am sure that things will change as people come into my life. Now more than ever I am my own person and not so easily swayed by other peoples opinions as I once was.
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