Long Roll begins at Balmain Bowling Club

What is the Long Roll?

Bowls Australia, in partnership with World Bowls, Bowls NSW and Bowls Queensland, is delivering “Bowls for Brisbane – The Long Roll”, an interstate showcase event travelling from Sydney to Brisbane across 32 clubs and more than 1,000 kilometres.

The initiative is part of a national campaign supporting lawn bowls’ inclusion in the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.

At each stop along the journey, a round of a single match is played, with an “Australia” team competing against a “Rest of the World” team, before the final result is decided in Brisbane.

The event highlights the diversity, community impact and global appeal of lawn bowls, as well as showcases the Clubs that are at the heart of the sport.

Day Summary

Bowls Australia selected to start the ‘Long Roll’ at Balmain Bowling Club est. 1880, being the oldest affiliated Bowling Club in New South Wales a proud moment for a club within our bowling group to be a central part of the push for lawn bowls to be in the Brisbane Olympics.

It was a momentous occasion at Balmain with Tony Carter from Bowls Australia opening the long roll and having the likes of local MP Kobi Shetty and two Jackaroos in Ben Twist and Jack McShane in attendance to showcase the overwhelming support and appetite for lawn bowls to feature in the Olympics.

Once the game begun it was Jane Reid (Balmain), Craig Donaldson (Tuncurry Beach) and Jack McShane representing ‘Team Australia’ up against Tanya Kelly (Wallacia), Andrew Jarvis (Mollymook Beach) and Ben Twist (St. Johns Park) representing the ‘Rest of the World’ team in an enthralling battle to get the ‘Long Roll’ underway with a 8-3 first set win for ‘Team Australia’, but the ‘Rest of the World’ fought back with a 6-3 second set win sending it to a tie breaker. In the tie breaker it was Ben Twist with an incredible shot to hold game before Jack McShane delivered with a backhand strike to hand ‘Team Australia’ the first point of the Balmain to Brisbane Long Roll.

Finally it was also a special day for the Saints Bowls Group for another reason being the first time we have had a member present from every club within the group as well as a member from our BPL Franchise the ‘Sydney Saints’ and it was only fitting it was at our oldest affiliated club within the group.

Show Your Support

If you want to get behind the initiative from Bowls Australia to push for lawn bowls to be apart of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, become a Barracker for Brisbane by pledging your support by following the link: https://campaigns.memberpoint.com.au/h/t/7C388E280DB97A52

To follow the live scoring of the Long Roll journey click the following link: https://bowls.com.au/events-page/bowls-for-brisbane-2032/bowls-for-brisbane-2032-the-long-roll/