January 4, 2008
Three players make their debut in this round They being the "Bigship" John Winship playing lead for Barry Gartrell at Bedford, Graeme Leeks playing two for the Jones Boy at Cambridge and James Jaworski playing Skip after just four games in the Premier League for the Osborne Park Saints..
Round eight brings another terrific round of fixtures with plenty hanging on the results
Cockburn have another big game when they take on the Victoria Park Reds who have been impressive so far this season. .
Sth Perth Millers have surprised the bowling world with their performance so far this season face their biggest challenge of the season when they take on the reigning Premiers The Doubleview PowerHouse, who have surprisingly lost their last two games.
The Cambridge Knights who have been very good so far have a huge task ahead of them when they square up to The Osborne Park Saints who seem to be back on that winning track. James Jaworski takes a skippers role in only his 4th game of Premier League
The Wanneroo Express have to answer some big questions when they face a revitalized Kalamunda if we take their last game into account.
Kalamunda are inconsistent and Wanneroo are no better. A big game for both clubs.
The battle of the bottom when Melville take on the Bedford Bulls at Melville. Bedford remain in positive territory to try to avoid demotion while it seems that demotion is certain for Melville. A vital game for the Bulls where a loss will mean absolute curtains for them
-Shane Knott Victoria Pk all concentration here
--
Shane Knott one of the young rising stars of the game, played very well in the State Pairs and is playing his part in The Reds Success this season
-----------ROUND EIGHT 5th JANUARY
----------------GAME OF THE ROUND
-----COCKBURN ROOSTERS v VIC PARK REDS
S. Srhoy(sk),D. Penman, I. Jakovich,N.Fitzgerald
D. Brown(sk) L. Richardson,M. Zusman, P. Novak
L. Strahan(sk) S.Cerff, M. Illich, J. Galipo
M. Kurta(sk), G. Carberry, M. Sokol, J. Ravilich
-------------------------versus
G. Wishart(sk), T. Mitchell, D. Florence , G. Hiskens
R. Hughes (sk), R. Gilbert, J. Finlay, G. Quann
R. Butler (sk), K. Beaglehole, S.Knott.G. Faulkner
J. Mitchell (sk), C. McNeil, E. Martin, D. Patterson
The Mean Machine might be back on track after their important win against the PowerHouse. The boys at Cockburn have won 5 from seven and last weeks win was very important for them beating the PowerHouse at Doubleview.
----Danny Penman, a welcome return to Cockburn
-------------- 
Dan Penman has returned to the fold playing three to Steve Srhoy and will be an asset to club. Cockburn look like they have a little more juggling of their side to make it the best it can be. Daniel Brown's rink has been struggling and He will be looking for that extra something from his players.
The rinks of L. Strahan and Matt Kurta are the main reason for the position Cockburn occupy on the ladder and will be the main thrust of the Roosters bid for victory against the Reds
Vic Park Reds would be very happy with where they sit in the scheme of things. Playing at Cockburn will not bother Russell Hughes after spending the past 3 seasons at the club.
Jeff Mitchell has lost his past three games and would be concerned faces another difficult game no matter who his rink draws.
The rinks of R. Hughes, R. Wishart are doing a great job for the Reds while Rhett Butler who is the leading skipper for the Reds with a 5/2 + 28.
Rhett is the best swing shot into the head in the Premier League.
The Reds face will another challenge to get the big end of the points won't find Cockburn an easy place to win. However they should be confident about their chances
6/2
Sth PERTH MILLERS v D/VIEW POWERHOUSE
K. Pride (sk), Max Petrich Troy Kinnane ,Vic Yates
R. Bresland(sk),F. Carbone, D Bandy J Cunningham
Nic Reagan (sk) S. Lunn, T. Percival M.Hughes
Scott Walker(sk) B. Bandy,Reg Neindorf, D. Stewart
-----------------------Versus
J. Slavich(sk) K. McIroy,R. Dempsey,J.Wholohan
D.Katunarich(sk),P. Buller,B.Gearing, C.Dunstall
J. Sharp (sk),L. Thorn, R. Barns, M. Mitchell
R. Ball(sk), B. Urquhart, J. Bausor, C. Slavich
The PowerHouse lost big time on the Cambridge carpet will not find the Sth Perth Millers carpet any easier to play on. All sides that have played at Sth Perth have had a hard time of it, with Millers winning 3 of their 4 home games. The Millers have shown the desire and the passion to be a force in the Premier League and certainly a lot of belief in themselves. In difficult conditions at Bedford in their last game they crushed the Bedford Bulls on a surface they would be very unfamiliar to them
-Nick Regan doing extremely well in his first season
------------------of Premier League
---------------
They have been delighted with their star recruit Nick Reagan who has exceeded all expectations so far, The Ken Pride rink has come along nicely since changes to his rink and are well led. Ross Bresland and his rink continue to impress and Scotty Walker has a finely tuned rink.
All in all the Millers are ready for this game and a loss is not in their thinking.
The PowerHouse don't like to lose at anytime and they are not keen on playing on carpets but will have to come to terms that many Premier League games will be played on carpets.
Their loss to the MeanMachine last week was by only 1 shot
and will be looking to put the Millers back in their box.
John Slavich has a powerful rink and is also the leading rink at the club will lead the charge for the PowerHouse, he has great stats 5 wins 2 losses + 20.
Jon Sharp continues to impress with his rink doing the job. The losers last week Dennis Katunarich and Robbie Ball have great records so far this season will as always be hard to toss.
It is hard to imagine that the PowerHouse could lose three games in a row but it is possible
6/2
-----WANNEROO EXPRESS v KALAMUNDA
C. Adams (sk) N.Stevens, G.Cox, P.Potts
G. Ellis (sk), R. Humphreyson, P. Knight,S.Wright
Ron Bates(sk), J.Carter, S. Alden, Russ Bates.
S.Davies(sk), T.Alden,M.Hulbert,D Griffin
-----------------------Versus
N. Payne (sk) S. O`Neil, R. Hutchison, R Pringle
B. Brandsma (sk), J. Rollnik, T. Nattalotto R.Payne
N. Griffin (sk)B. Tie, M. Clancy, P. Nattalotto
M. Biglin (sk) F. Anderson, J. Wardrop, M. Douthie
This game has all skips on a minus shots up aggregate except for Mitch Biglan.
Who will win ? home ground says the Wanneroo Express where they have won 3 of their 4 home games and play well at home.
Wanneroo have had only 10 rink wins + 2 draws out of a possible 28 wink wins tells us that things are not all that rosy for them. Their Skippers,Clive Adams, Geoff Ellis and Stein Davies are below a 50% winning rate, and worse again they are all minus in their shots up aggregate. They stats say they appear to be in a false position on the ladder.
Well it's time to get cracking for them
Kalamunda almost beat Osborne Pk and it tells us that if they can play at their best, their best is good enough to win against the top sides. The $64 question is which Kalamunda side will turn up to play at Wanneroo?
Their is no consistency with Kalamunda but this game gives them a chance to go back up the hill with the big end of the points.
Neale Griffin is a talented skipper, has a poor record of 2 wins 5 losses - 33 shots has got to get the best out of his rink if they are to have a chance of victory. However there have been changes in his side and it might be the spark to get them going.
In most games Bill Brandsma, Neil Payne and Mitch Biglin have been pretty competitive score wise and we can expect them to be the thrust of any victory for Kalamunda
6/2
---MELVILLE MAGIC v BEDFORD BULLS
C. Girvan (sk), K.Cousens, T. O`Meehan, J. Andrew
C. Fleay (sk), Keating, G. McCormack, J. Birch.
S. Hughes (sk), M. Randell, J. Spadaro. H. Mosford
N. Briely (sk), Kennedy, R. Ireland, Murray
----------------------versus
C. Graybrook(sk) A. Mayer, P. Healy, N. Watson
S. Bainbridge(sk)J. Gupanis, B. Fullagar, K. Burke
Paul. Hunter (sk),N. Minchin , M. Lemos, P. Hunter.
B. Gartrell (sk) K. Thomas,B. Donovan, J. Winship
Melville have a big opportunity to win their first game for the season and Boy! they have been knocking on the door of late, a close loss to Cockburn and lost on only one rink against Wanneroo. This is the game to do it and register their first win.
Melville have been well served by the rinks of Steve Hughes and hasn't he made a difference since taking over the skippers role and of course Mr Reliable, Cameron Girvan. They will still need the support of their other two rinks, Colin Fleay's rink has shown on occasions they can be competitive.
There have been several changes to the Bedford line up and we see John Winship coming into the side for his first game of Premier League. Mel Lemos has returned to the side after recovering from injury and Adi Mayer returns to the side as a three for Cliff Graybrook
Bedford will have to win this game and with the revamped rinks they do tend to look a little stronger. The Bulls have two rinks that can go with most rinks in the Premier League, Cliff Graybrook and Stu Bainbridge's rinks. It is interesting to see Jim Gupanis now playing three for Stu Bainbridge
Barry Gartrell's rink has two very new players while skip Paul Hunter is learning the ropes and doing a good job of it
but as we all know it is no easy task and these things take time. A commodity the Bulls have little of.
I would love to tip the Bulls but home ground advantage and better form from Melville says
6/2
CAMBRIDGE KNIGHTS v OSBORNE PK SAINTS
T.Smallacombe (sk) N. Lewis,W. Maher, B. Kiely The Jones Boy (sk) T. Walsh, G. Leeks, R. Bolton.
R. Stockton (sk) A. Heal, G. Kane, H. Christensen
B. Katunarich (sk) M. McGann,C. McKenna,D.Irvin
------------------------versus
G. Caffell (sk), D. Rankin, G. Nicol, J. Coleman.
J. Jaworski(sk) G. Evans, , F. DiGuiseppe,
P. Ker
D. Trewhella (sk), P. Caffell, G. King, D. Adams.
J. Goddard (sk) I., Payne, B. Galloway, D. Appleton.
What a ripper of a game we have here as these two great sides go head to head. It looks like being an enormous game with all rinks in top form.
A down side for the Knights, Chris Lander is unavailable to play for the Knights which is a blow for them as he is such a valuable player. He has been replaced by Aj Heal who comes out of the Jones Boy's rink. Aj Heal has had a terrific season so far this season and should fit the bill in place of Chris Lander.
Graeme Leeks, who has represented Australia in Hockey makes his long awaited debut to play in the Top 16 for his club. In games I have seen him play he had been very good and should fit in quite easily playing at this level
In a big move the Saints have broken up the rink of Bill Galloway and bought in James Jaworski to skipper for the first time. With the stat sheet showing 3 wins 4 losses and a minus 3 shot agg, there might be some justification, but none the less Bill Galloway is an outstanding skipper and those who were lucky enough to see him in the final would have seen his great efforts to almost win the game. Bill will play two for John Goddard
James Jaworski is a brilliant player who has a ton of confidence and always encourages his players is sure to be a valuable player for the Saints. There is no doubt Skipper is his go, he is a born leader and bigger things await this talented player.
There are 3 rinks who have suffered only one loss for the season, those of the Saints Daniel Trewhella, and the Knights Trystan Smallacombe and the Jones Boy. Hopefully Daniel will draw one of two rinks.
Last season The Saints had the wood over the Knights but this is a different Knights 16 who are playing with plenty of confidence. However so are the Saints. It should be close
6/2
