Bowls: Taradale RSA four North Island champions

Taradale RSA skip Robyn Wallace (left), Mere Nepia, Di Bentley and Cheryn Menhennett with the spoils from the North Island Chartered Club four bowls tourney. Photo/Warren Buckland

Sometimes, just sometimes, good things unravel so that other equally beneficial things can fall into place on the proviso that endings are merely new beginnings.

Robyn Wallace will attest to that after she skipped composite teammates Cheryn Menhennett, Di Bentley and Mere Nepia to the championship fours crown of the annual North Island Chartered Clubs Outdoor Bowls Tournament staged in Auckland from November 13-15.

You see, Wallace had teed up fellow Omarunui club members Dot Palmer, Jan Henderson and Ngaire McKinley to tackle the tourney because they had claimed national club championship bragging rights in Hamilton in April last year.

As it turned out, the trio weren't available last week for "various reasons" although Henderson had crossed the floor to Bowls Taradale where she is a long-time member.

Understandably Wallace had considered flagging the idea of going to the chartered clubs' tourney but as the deadline loomed a lightbulb switched on. It dawned on her that the Bay View trio of lead Menhennett, No 2 Bentley and No 3 Nepia (No 3) could register as members of Taradale RSA instead.

"They did and away we went," says Wallace, a former Wairoa resident who played for Gisborne/East Coast before moving to Napier five years ago.

The chartered clubs rules negates the need for players to be affiliated to the same bowls club — they can be members of any other registered sports club such as the RSA or Cosmopolitan ones to meet the eligibility requirements.

Remarkably Wallace had never played alongside Menhennett, Bentley and Nepia before but she had locked horns against them in smaller Bay tournaments.

Menhennett is just a three-year player while the other two have rolled out mats close to a decade although just Wallace and Nepia were going in with previous chartered club experience.

The games were played from the headquarters of the Manurewa and Papakura clubs.

The Taradale RSA side lost only one game out of nine in post-section play, which had lured a field of 62 teams, to a New Plymouth four before pipping 14-13 a Nellie Yap-skipped Manurewa side in the final.

Wallace says they had battled close to 150 minutes in the 18-end final. The top 16 went through to the championship stage while the rest continued in plates and consolation rounds.

Taradale RSA had no burning ambitions but to simply qualify so their acquisition had surpassed their expectations.

"We just got stronger as we went along," says Wallace.

Oddly enough the absence of competitive familiarity didn't bother them. If anything, it became a catalyst to honing in on the jack or kitty end after end.

That sense of house-on-fire compatibility was built on a solid foundation of simply having fun although they were there to tackle the "hard stuff".

No doubt, when push came to shove Wallace dug deep for a few clutch shots to pull them out of tricky situations.

For instance, they were 14-12 up on the board in the final and Wallace had just one bowl to change their fortunes. Yes, she delivered.

She shunted a Taradale RSA shot ball on to the jack to break the opposition's two-shot hold, thus avoiding the stress of playing an extra end.

"Nobody likes an extra end because the tension is on you then."

Taradale RSA did not need a reminder because they had to play an extra end in game four but, mercifully, came through it.

"We were just pleased that we didn't have to play an extra end in the final."

For Wallace it brought back memories of skipping the Omarunui team, with Merle McLean instead of Henderson, to the North Island chartered club runner-up placing at Johnsonville club in Wellington in 2013.

In some respects, last week's win had exorcised a few demons for Wallace on unfinished business, albeit with different personnel.

With details still to be disclosed on where the next North Island chartered club tourney will be staged, she isn't sure if the champion four will defend their crown.

It's not that travelling to any other destination will be any further from Whangarei but there are more complicated variables to factor in, such as who will be available and the matter of allegiance to those who couldn't make it this year.

Taradale RSA will acknowledge the players' accomplishment at the club tonight with a presentation before the four will celebrate their success with a quiet dinner sometime next week.

They collected $1400 in prizemoney, which Wallace says is really good "for a women's tournament".

"It helps," she says of the $350 each but it's always more about the camaraderie, travel into the unknown territory of competition.