2006 2nd Ranker

         53 players turned up to do battle, and it went well into the night and nearly the next morning. The small white is a bit of a shock to some players and world rules cause them a few problems but all in all everything went pretty well.

Finalist Barry Kitchener Jnr would have been a tad blurry eyed fronting up to work straight from the comp good effort Baz. Some of the lesser known players really stepped up to the mark on Sunday with Nestor the best by finishing in 3^rd spot. Dean Mcdonald made a welcome return and athough lacking match practise ran a good 4^th, the young guns from the Tweed are improving with every run , and it was nice to have a bit of glamour in the field with the girls joining us and playing up to their very best, nice to see Tomo and The Snowman and of course Mel Malone for the first time this year, Himono and Andrew were late scratchings from Coffs (you need a new car Himono) and Billy Crompton missed for the first time ever, (must ring the police station to see if he needs bail), talking about bail quite a few of us got out of jail from time to time, my good self being the luckiest especially against Christian but the unsponsored Terry Stevens burst my bubble in the next round, well played Terry.

        Running these things really take it out of you as Damien found out, doing the draws, finding players who just have that happy knack of being there one minute and then when you need them woosh thy can`t be found and many more behind the scene problems that crop up. So for Watty to help do all the work and still make the final on the winners side and win the championship is quite amazing and (besides a tad of ability) shows the difference in mindset between good players and great players. Dicky Williams had to leave early due to the late finish (and early start) and to keep his lovely partner happy (good move Richard) but seriously it is great to see these guys travel the distances to compete. Dean Heremia was in the same boat {leaky} and also had to forfeit, however the 10.00am start at Coolie for the 3^rd playoffs on the 9^th of April will see a more reasonable finishing hour. 

        Congratulation to all those that competed and to all those I missed mentioning who without your support we wouldn`t have prayer in competing strongly in the nationals in October. Don`t forget the NSW singles to be held at Coolie on a date to be fixed is coming up (this event doesn`t count towards the 3 playoffs that have to be competed in to qualify for the playoffs for the National team) and visit this website for updates.

Hervey Bay is only just over a month away and for those who have never been there it is a great weekend of nonstop pool. It is held over the Qld May day weekend (1^st week in May) at the Hervey Bay Sportsmans Club and is a must for all serious pool players and those not so serious. Keep you head down Poppy.