The national Intercentre Sevens is the elite teams event in New Zealand bowls and Dunedin wants to add to its proud record.
It was first held in 1970 and Dunedin tops the table with 13 wins.
Girdler (51), the bowls manger at Tweed Heads in New South Wales, has accepted an invitation from the Bowls Dunedin selectors to play in the event at Auckland.
"Paul has a lot of international experience and has been successful in the Australian leagues,'' the chairman of the Bowls Dunedin selection panel, Jim Scott, told the Otago Daily Times.
"He will add strength and give us more options when we select the team.''
To be eligible to play for the centre Girdler has to be registered with a Bowls Dunedin club.
He was a member of the Wakari club before shifting to Australia seven years ago and has rejoined that club.
He also plays for the Tweed Heads Bowling Club in Australia.
"Paul expressed a wish to play for Dunedin in the intercentre event,'' Jim Scott said.
"He had to be registered with a New Zealand club to play for the Black Jacks.''
Girdler made his international debut against Zimbabwe in 1998 and returned to top bowls at last year's Asia and Pacific championships after a gap of 11 years.
He was skip of the gold medal-winning New Zealand triples and fours teams and has played more than 200 tests for the Black Jacks.
Girdler has won three national intercentre titles with Dunedin teams in 1995, 2001 and 2005.
Dunedin finished third when he last played in the event in 2009.
The aggressive left-hander has also won two national interclub titles with the Fairfield Club and the national champion of champions singles title in 1996.
Girdler has a successful record in Australia over the last four years and was runner-up in the national indoor singles in 2012 and 2015 and in the open fours last year.
At this month's New Zealand championships Girdler was runner-up in the singles to fellow Black Jack Shannon McIlroy.
Girdler and Mike Kernaghan are two current Black Jacks who will be named in the Bowls Dunedin intercentre team next month.
Also likely to be in the team are former New Zealand representatives Shaun Scott, who won four of his five singles games in the event last season, and fours skip Terry Scott.
Also in contention for the men's team is Andy McLean, who has competed in international PBA finals in the United Kingdom.
The national inter-centre event will be held at Auckland from March 31 to April 3.
Fact file
Paul Girdler
Age: 51.
Occupation: Bowls manager Tweed Heads.
Born: Leith, Scotland.
Education: OBHS.
Clubs: Tweed Heads, Wakari.
International record: NZ representative 1998-2004, 2015-16; World Bowls 2000 (bronze medal in pairs and fours) and 2004 (bronze medal in pairs and fours); Asia and Pacific Bowls (gold medal in triples and fours 2015); Hong Kong pairs 2002 (gold medal).
National record: Nine Bowls Dunedin titles; NZ champion of champions singles title 1996; NZ intercentre titles 1995, 2001, 2005; two NZ interclub titles with Fairfield; runner-up NZ open championship singles 2016; runner-up Australian indoor singles 2012, 2015 and open fours 2015.
