GVBD Top 20 - Hardie and Nisbet lock horns once more

By Tyler Maher

Mar 10, 2021

It is a tradition as old as time.

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Grand final week in the Goulburn Valley Bowls Division rolls around, and Brian Nisbet and Dave Hardie face-off at 20 paces.

Instead of a six-shooter though, in their hand they each carry a scribbled list of names.

The duo draws and fires, exchanging the lists before exclaiming their dismay at what the other has put together.

So begins another GVBD Top 20 declaration from the pairing.

For the first time in recent memory, Nisbet and Hardie have the top three bowlers in the same order — Shepparton Golf's Brad Orr and David Daws from Tallygaroopna's Mitch Sidebottom.

But from there they diverge on differing paths.

It comes from an ideological clash in the thinking of the bowling identities.

Nisbet puts much more weight in an overall catalogue of bowls form from his chosen 20 — including previous showings, performances in state and club events as well as his assessment of the pennant season.

But Hardie leans fully into the purity of the list — the best 20 pennant bowlers in the region is what he is trying to select.

“Tatura-Hill Top's rink of Peter Le Sueur, Jason Carter, Nick Boyd and John Attwood is the prime example,” Hardie proclaims.

“Once they put those four together they barely lost a game, that's why I've got three of them in there.”

Nisbet found room for Daniel and Paul Nichols despite pennant campaigns below their usual standard in terms of rink wins.

“The Nichols are still worthy of spots in the top 20, no matter how many games they win or not,” Nisbet said.

“I'm picking the best bowlers.”

Nisbet nearly found room for Hardie in his list after a stellar season as a third for Shepparton Park — but in the end left his list-compiling counterpart out in the cold.

“I just couldn't squeeze him in,” he said.

Hardie had Shane Walsh, Geoff Mulcahy (Stanhope), Denis Smyth, Paul Nichols (Park) and Andy Houston (Euroa) as unlucky to miss, while Nisbet's included Le Sueur, Parker Paul Warren and Euroa's Ken Sutcliffe.

GVBD TOP 20 BOWLERS

Brian Nisbet

Brad Orr

David Daws

Mitch Sidebottom

Matt Robertson

Mark Ryan

Rob George

Paul Nichols

David Cartwright

Brett Gunning

John Stokes