IT WILL be Blackburns aplenty in Webbcona’s premier division side on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
For the first time in the club’s history, a father and his two sons will play in the Ballarat District Bowls Premier Division when Webbcona meets division newcomer, Lara.
Set to line up across three separate rinks will be Greg Blackburn and his two sons, Matthew, 18, and Todd, 16.
The trio have all been members of Webbcona intermittently in the past but have never all played together in the same side.
Now, they all get the chance to pull on the Webbcona colours for the new premiership division season.
For father Greg, it will be a special moment to play alongside his own bloodlines in the Ballarat district’s highest level of bowls.
“I’m really looking forward to it, it will be great,” he said.
A former member at Creswick, Blackburn moved to Webbcona three years ago after Creswick’s bowling greens were washed away.
A Wendouree local, it only made sense for him to make the switch to the green and whites.
“We had been out at Creswick and the boys had been out at Creswick but when the greens got flooded again it made it pretty difficult to play out there,” Blackburn said.
“It made sense to come to Webbcona and it’s been great.”
Elder son Matthew last year gave away the underarm roll to play cricket, but has been lured back for season 2014-15.
“They have always been pretty keen bowlers; I never had to push them into it or anything like that,” Greg said.
Greg is a third bowler, while Matthew and Todd will both lead separate rinks.
When asked who was the best of the trio, there might have been something of a bias coming out of the mouth out of the eldest Blackburn.
“I’d always say I’m the best bowler of course,” Greg said with a laugh.
“But Matthew has shown before he has what it takes and Todd is still young and has a lot of improvement.”
patrick.nolan@fairfaxmedia.com.au