Peter Belliss was a giant of international bowls. He won three World Bowls titles and is New Zealand's most successful male international bowler.
The Otago Daily Times spoke to Belliss during the national championships this week. It was the first time he had played in Dunedin since the 1995 Asia and Pacific championships.
Belliss (62) retired from international bowls after the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and spent the next decade as the bowls manager at the Cabramatta Club in Sydney.
It was a successful time, with the club winning two New South Wales and two Australian premier league titles.
He returned to his home town of Wanganui in 2012.
''It was wonderful coming back home,'' Belliss said.
''I was home for seven weeks and was then head-hunted for the bowls manager position at St John's Park.
''I'm enjoying being back home and retired and doing a little bit of coaching with the Black Jacks.''
Belliss will be in Glasgow and be involved with the blind and AWD bowlers for the Commonwealth Games.
Belliss won the World Bowls men's singles title in Aberdeen in 1984 and is the only New Zealand bowler to stand at the top of the podium in the event.
He also won the pairs with Rowan Brassey in Auckland in 1988 and the triples with Brassey and Andrew Curtain in Johannesburg in 2000.
''All three world titles were special,'' Belliss said.
''We went through 2000 unbeaten and won 15 games. We beat Australia for the fifth time that year to win the final.''
He is happy with the state of competitive bowls in New Zealand.
''We are one of the leading nations and have a couple of outstanding women in Jo Edwards and Val Smith and in the men's team Ali Forsyth and Shannon McIlroy are world-class players,'' Belliss said.
Belliss no longer has the ambition to get back into international bowls.
''I'm more of a social bowler these days,'' he said.
''I don't do too much practice. I just go out and play. Some days the bowls go OK and other days they don't.''
Belliss played in New Plymouth last year and this is his second national championships since returning home from Australia.
When he last played at the championships in Dunedin in 1992, Belliss won the singles and the pairs with former Otago first-class cricketer Robin Jefferson.
He qualified for post-section play in the singles and pairs but his best chance of another national title will be in the fours where he will be joined by his old mate Lance Tasker and Black Jacks Richard Girvan and Chris Le Lievre.
