DENNIS KATUNARICH

L/R: Denis Dalton, Rex Johnston, Ken Woods, Dennis Katunarich

August 11, 2011
Dennis Katunarich was always going to reach the heights on the green, but it took him a while to decide it was what he wanted to do. He was introduced to the game on his twenty first birthday, when he and brother Brian were bought memberships of Osborne Park Bowling Club by father Branko.
The Branko Katunarich mantelpiece already boasted a State singles, two State pairs, two State triples, and State fours trophies, and he was a Lindsay Rosenthal Medalist plus a finalist in an Australian singles.

Dennis and Brian played social pairs on Wednesday afternoons between their cricket commitments. "Dad was no encouraging parent," recalled Dennis. "He didn't take any prisoners. It was always a tough game, usually with him and myself against Uncle Joe Rodin and Brian. You had to perform, no excuses accepted.

" It was football and cricket for Dennis then, and he was no slouch at those sports either. West Perth may well have missed out on a goal sneak, with the young Kat twice topping the hundred goal mark in the under eighteens, and was a regular interzone representative. "I was always an East Fremantle supporter," he said. "No way would I play for West Perth, I just enjoyed my footy." Bill Valli and Shane Sheridan were among the quality players of that time.

On the cricket field, he was a better than average wicketkeeper batsman with Osborne Park in the Metro Seniors. It was there that Katunarich first locked horns with another glove man, Michael Zusman, and the pair would later become keen club adversaries and State teammates on the bowling green.

In the 1974 Australian pairs competition the bowling fraternity got their first glimpse of Dennis Katunarich. At twenty-four a youngster in the sport in those days, he hadn't put down a pennant bowl when he partnered father Branko to get within one shot of grabbing the title in a close finish against Scarborough's Col Lindsay and Ron Butler.

Unflustered with his success, the youngster didn't play competitively again until 1976, when at Osborne Park he spent a season in the number two side. He wasn't really enamored with the game, and returned to the cricket field.

Uncle Joe Rodin was one of several players recruited by the WA Yugoslav Club following their promotion to first red in 1978, but he put a condition on his signature: "Only if Dennis plays with me." Unaware of the behind the scenes lobbying, Dennis went to Jones Street, and played three for Joe, where he performed well, the club making the top four. In four years at the club he entered the singles twice, and was victorious on both occasions.

In 1982, Katunarich left the Yugoslav Club to join several other young players, including John Rainoldi, Mick McGann and Lindsay Thorn at Scarborough, signaling a golden era for the club, with a host of good players in their ranks.

It was eventually that success that proved to be it's undoing, with two teams playing in the first red competition. "It became uncomfortable, the division in the club festered, and I was ready to look elsewhere if anything came up," Dennis recalled. It proved to be a shared feeling, and when Col Lindsay joined son Mark, who was green keeping at Doubleview, the approach to Rainoldi and Katunarich came. It was the catalyst for a mass migration.

"Understandably, there were some fences to mend initially at Doubleview, with the club changing profile almost overnight," Dennis said. "We weren't universally accepted at first, there was some dissatisfaction in the ranks, but over time, as the older members saw that we were there for the long haul, and experienced the professionalism it brought to the club, everything jelled, and today it's a great place to be." He served for five years on the committee at Doubleview.

In 1980 the State selection panel changed, and the trickle of younger players excelling at the game began to receive recognition. Rainoldi and Katunarich were among the first of the new breed to earn a State call up, and Dennis went straight into the second spot for the first of his three hundred and seven games for WA.

He soon attracted the attention of the Eastern seaboard, but it was in 1984 that he really arrived as one of the country's top exponents of the game. Ten years after being runner up with his father in an Australian Pairs, he won the event with John Rainoldi, and was again successful in 1986 with John.

Dennis pictured with Liza Curry at the Commowealth game in 1990

Katunarich was first selected for Australia in 1983, but it was his Australian singles title in 1985 coupled with a National Champion of Champion Fours that cemented him in the National side. He represented Australia until 1993. Dennis was runner up in Jack High in 1987 and 88 and the 1992 National Indoor Singles win features among his six Australian Titles. Three gold, two silver and a bronze medal at The Pacific Bowls Championships are his highlights Internationally.

Katunarich's interstate career was brought to a premature halt after the 2000-2001 season, following a home series as defending champions when the side performed below expectations.

After the squad was selected for the following campaign, he received a phone call from the late Stu Davies. "You won't believe this," was Davies' opening remark. Guessing the drift of the call, Dennis replied: "You or me?" In what was to become a bombshell in bowls circles, the outstanding bowler in the State and acknowledged as among the country's elite, had been axed, and it was obvious the reasons had nothing to do with form.

"It wasn't something I was too concerned about," Dennis reflected. "It was the selector's call for whatever reason, and that's the way it goes. But Stuart wasn't happy and sought a meeting with the selectors, who ducked and dived a bit but shed little light on the reasons."

Like many of us, Katunarich was known to enjoy a beer at mealtimes, and there was conjecture that this was a point of contention with the heirachy, but if that was the case it seemed a strange and petty decision, considering he'd been following the same routine over two decades of success in Australian Championships, and it apparently hadn't been an issue with the Australian selectors.

The man who had been an integral part of eight Alley Shield victories in Western Australian colours, including four in the previous decade, had been inexplicably dropped from the side without explanation. Incidently, Western Australia haven't tasted success in the Alley Shield since then. Whatever the reasons, Katunarich was later recalled to the State side and played one more series which was held in Melbourne in 2004/5.
After the conclusion of that Interstate Sides series he then called it a day bringing an end to a glittering Interstate career.

Formerly in the building industry, he spent some time working in the North West, before buying the Espana Tavern in Wangara. In 1986 he and Geoff Oakley established Bowls World in Osborne Park.

"I was a bit late to see the best of Dad, Bert Sharp and Frank Harrison," he said when asked the inevitable question about the best he's met, "but Geoff Oakley's record does stand for itself, and would have been even more imposing if he'd played at a stronger club back in the days when you weren't allowed composite sides in State events.

I was also lucky enough to play a lot with John Rainoldi and Robbie Ball – they could play." "Overall you can't go past Steve Glasson, although I've played with and against David Bryant."

He reckons the funniest player he played with was New South Welshman, Ken Williams. "In the 1984 World Championships Jim Candelet (USA) was taken ill during the pool stages and had to withdraw from the championships. As the USA did not have an available substitute the organisers allowed George Adrain, a reserve with the Scottish team, to take his place for the rest of the tournament."
"They won the gold medal, and Adrain was eager to let all and sundry know about it."

"During a rainy period a few of us were discussing who we thought was the best in the world, with the conversation featuring mainly the names of Bryant and Alcock. "Adrain," chimed Williams. Almost in unison came the reply: "Who says?"

"George Adrain, he just told me in the toilets a minute ago," was the quick retort.

"I think I played in the right era," Dennis told us. "The advent of the younger age group generally was a good thing even though there was some early resistance. I think it's had some negative effects however, the courteousness seems to be going out of the game. In my last State series I remember buying a drink for the young bloke I played against. He grabbed the glass and disappeared. That's something that would never happen in earlier days."

It was no spur of the moment decision that prompted the recent retirement of one of Western Australian and Australia's most respected and highly credentialed bowling identities.


Dennis Katunarich had planned his exit for two seasons, and it was important to him that the departure was timed so that his club would suffer the minimum of inconvenience.


"There are plenty of quality young fellers down there right now," he said. "I reckon the club will continue to prosper with the people they have.



If the circumstances had been different I would have pulled the pin a couple of years earlier. I think the club is well placed now with the new breed coming through."



Katunarich is proud of his achievements in bowls, but is just as happy with the twenty-five years he spent at Doubleview. "These days there aren't too many bowlers who spend that long at the one club, and I value my time at the View as highly as anything I have done," he said.

A story about Dennis Katunarich wouldn't be complete without a mention of his good mate, Stuart Davies, who tragically succumbed to cancer. "Stu was a terrific player who was very unfortunate not to have won a Rosenthal Medal. He won just about everything else."

Three Rosenthal's are among the many achievements of Katunarich, which include two State singles titles, three pairs, three triples, and three fours championships, plus a Champion of Champion singles and three Masters Singles.

A boat and a set of golf clubs have now replaced the bowls that weaved magic on many a green, and Dennis has high hopes that the next head he wins will belong to a barramundi.
He will also be closely monitoring the progress of Stuart Davies's two boys, Matt and Sam, who are playing with Claremont's reserves and colts sides.

A Fremantle Dockers supporter, Katunarich, who made two centuries at cricket, kicked the century in a season twice as a goal sneak, and scored "A hole in one", became one of the bowlers of the century on the green.

His prowess as a bowler mirrored by his popularity among the bowling fraternity, Dennis Katunarich enjoyed the respect of all he played with and against, and the game has lost not only a champion but an icon.

RON HEAD