Of the others, for now, they offer the ability to spoil the aspirations of those in the higher echelon, especially the luckless Dally White who should not be suffering bottom of the ladder with the likes of Willy Lines, Gordon McNeill and Glen Jones in their ranks.

Too many possibilities in the three-rink competition to predict a home ground grand final.

Mixed feelings at Moora

A visit to Moora is generally not judged on how to beat the locals but rather on how to handle their slippery carpet.

A hot day and a reasonable green speed greeted Dally White’s original endeavours but with a cooling sea breeze and a bump in momentum to around 17 to 18 seconds there were mixed feelings among the visitors.

Dally’s Glen Jones and crew loved it with nine shots over Mick Rodan, however Gordon McNeill was not all that happy dropping 11 to Bill Hobden and the normally good value Willy Lines was thoroughly put off with a 26-shot mishap to Bruce Manning.

But taking away the green speed local knowledge advantage, there could also be a hidden agenda to Moora’s comfortable 5/1 win with 38 to spare in the aggregate.

With Phil Manning heading a list of others missing from their usual complement, Moora appear to be addressing a perceived lack of consistency from their lead bowls.

This was personified with Bill Hobden’s team where up to the weekend had only managed a draw in his three games as skipper.

His usual third, Mike Prunster, came in as lead on the weekend with Colin Gardiner taking third and a newcomer to the side, Richard Vanzetti making up second.

Their tidy 11-shot win seemed to justify the move although a shaky start, where in the initial ends they picked up a five and gave away a six, might have left doubt in the minds of the selectors.

While Moora is expected to continue with their home ground predominance, their new team make up could well make a difference to their away performances.

Giveth and taketh away

No doubt the two Dalwallinu sides were the main instigators in putting the reigning premiers Ballidu at the bottom of last week’s ladder but it appears the two Wongan Hills sides can be relied upon to put the Bombers back on track.

Wongan Red earlier helped them along with a 5/1 win and Wongan Blue, on the weekend, added spice with a 6-0 wipe out.

But it was not all plain sailing where the strong side of Wayne Sermon, Dave McFarlane, John McDonald and Bill Smith could manage only one over Peter Breen and company and Chris Leahy and crew notched their first win for the season with three over Don Dellar.

Don Jones provided the icing on Ballidu’s cake dropping 14 to Graham Lehmann, Rob Falconer, John Burns and Neil Whyte.

The win certainly helps Ballidu’s defence of the title but things are not getting easier for the Bombers as they face a bye followed by a visit to a formidable Buntine.

Scare at Kalannie

Calingiri’s captain Richard Smith has not been having a good run this season and if he had found an easier draw than Kalannie’s Kingsley Roach, the lowly Calingiri visit to Kalannie could quite easily have found an upset.

With Calingiri’s Paul Spowart bettering an intimidating Vic Orchard and Ian Woods continuing an unbeaten run in a draw with Kim Jefferis, it was only the Smith-Roach encounter which made the difference but unfortunately for Calingiri by 16 aggregate shots.

However 1.5 points against a presumed stronger side in an away game is not bad compensation and a wake-up call for Kalannie.

Ups and downs

The Wongan Red vs Dalwallinu Green test turned out to be a long day of changing fortunes.

Red’s Don Macpherson weathered Kingsley Toster’s tactics of giving away the mat and killing ends to edge over by two and Gary McCagh, mostly chasing a deficit of 10, clawed back a one-shot over Phil Moore.

But damage to Red’s ego came from Noel Whyte’s side of Brad Glover, Graham Bell and John Harris who after settling turned a close game into a complete rout of 25 shots over Norm Wass and crew.

While Wongan Red showed some potential, Dally Green might show some concern for a one-rink win.

Results

Moora 5 (89) d Dalwallinu White 1 (51): Mick Rodan 14 lost to Glen Jones 23, Bruce Manning 36 d Willy Lines 10, Bill Hobden 39 d Gordon McNeill 18.

Kalannie 4.5 (76) d Calingiri 1.5 (60): Kingsley Roach 36 d Richard Smith 19, Vic Orchard 18 lost to Paul Spowart 19, Kim Jefferis 22 drew with Ian Woods.

Dalwallinu Green 4 (82) d Wongan Red 2 (60): Kingsley Toster 25 lost to Don Macpherson 27, Noel Whyte 39 d Norm Wass 14, Phil Moore 18 lost to Gary McCagh 19.

Ballidu 6 (74) d Wongan Blue 0 (56): Wayne Sermon 21 d Peter Breen 20, Chris Leahy 22 d Don Dellar 19, Graham Lehmann 31 d Don Jones 17.

Leading skippers

An anomaly exists in the leading skippers’ department where Dally Green’s Noel Whyte may head the list with four wins out of five games and 35 shots up but Buntine’s Trevor Reudavey and Calingiri’s Ian Woods remain unbeaten with three wins a draw each over four games.

Reudavey has 39 shots up and Woods seven.

Dally Green’s Kingsley Toster with 42 up continues to head a list with three wins out of four.