Casey (33), who is playing in the Speight's North East Valley Invitation Singles for the first time, skipped the Australian triples team at the Commonwealth Games in 2006.
''I'm a Melbourne boy so I had all my family and friends in the crowd. It was awesome,'' he said.
''The Commonwealth Games was special. You don't just win a medal for bowls but it goes to the tally of all the other sports for Australia.
''You meet a lot of people and it was a massive thrill for us bowlers to mix with the other athletes.''
It was a successful event for the Australian bowls team, with three gold and two silver medals from six events.
''It gave bowls credibility alongside the other sports,'' Casey said.
Casey won a silver medal in the World Bowls fours in Christchurch in 2008 and turned it into gold in Adelaide in 2012.
He made his senior international debut for the Jackaroos at the age of 20 in the centenary test against Wales in 2003. It celebrated the centenary of Bowls Australia.
''It was nerve-racking,'' Casey recalled.
''But I was excited to get that opportunity.''
He first came to the notice of the Australian selectors when he won the world under-25 junior singles on the island of Jersey a year earlier.
Casey won his first senior international title in the World Cup singles in Hong Kong in 2005.
''It opened up a few selection doors for me,'' he said.
''I've been lucky enough to be given opportunities and then managed to take them.''
The bowler he admires the most is Scotland's Alex Marshall, who has won five gold medals at World Bowls and Commonwealth Games and a record six world indoor singles titles.
''He's been at the top of the sport for so long and is still the No1 player in the world,'' Casey said.
''He can play on quick and slow greens and is able to adapt to all greens.''
Family has had a big influence in Casey's bowls. Rick, his father, was his coach for most of his career and was the biggest influence on his bowls.
He represented Victoria and won seven state titles: six in Victoria and one in Queensland.
''Dad was heavily involved with the Moonee Ponds Bowling Club in Melbourne and Mum worked in the kitchen and I was at the club quite often,'' Casey said.
''That's how my interest in the sport happened.''
Grandparents Ron and Lyn Casey and Uncle Ron were all keen bowlers.
Casey began his playing career at 7 when he played for the ''Bankers''.
Players not chosen for the club pennant teams were given a game.
''The average age of the teams was in their seventies but they allowed me to have a game with them,'' Casey said.
At the age of 12, he played in junior championships and became serious about bowls.
Casey, the regional bowls manager for southeast Queensland, is married to Trhysa, who lived in Christchurch before shifting to Queensland 18 years ago. The family lives on the Gold Coast.
Casey is a member of the Australian team at the Asia and Pacific championships in Christchurch next month and his target is World Bowls in Christchurch next year.
It is the first time he has played in the Speight's invitation singles and it will give him the chance to get used to New Zealand greens.
The event has a high reputation in Australia and he is keen to become only the third Australian to take the title behind Trevor Morris (1992) and Tom Ellem (1998).
Mark Casey
At a glance
Age: 33.
Home: Gold Coast.
Family: Wife Trhysa, children Jackson (3), Eva (1).
International debut: 2003. Played in 227 internationals.
Record: Gold medals at World Cup singles (2005), Commonwealth Games triples (2006), World Bowls fours 2012.
