The North East Valley combination were playing together in the pairs at a major tournament for the first time in 10 years.
They were pupils at East Otago High School when they last played together, in 2003, winning the boys pairs at the New Zealand secondary schools championships.
Freeman (28) has lived in Australia for nearly three years and is executive director of Community and Allied Health for the South West Queensland District Health Board.
He was married last July to Narelle, who is a Queensland school teacher.
''Mark was my best man, so we decided to reunite 10 years after winning the national secondary schoolboys pairs,'' Freeman said.
''It is quite sentimental for me. We have kept in communication over the last 10 years.''
When they won the secondary schools title, Freeman was skip.
''It is a role reversal, because Mark has been the skip today,'' Freeman said.
''I have to take orders from him.''
Freeman and Watt lost their first three games of pairs on the Andersons Bay green, and Freeman admitted it had taken time to get back into the groove.
During the past three years Freeman has played for the Biloela Bowling Club in the town of Roma.
''The greens here have a lot more moisture than those I've been used to in Australia,'' he said.
''The...greens are harder in Queensland.''
Freeman was the youngest chairman of the Bowls Dunedin board for two years before he left for Australia.
''Being on the board of Bowls Dunedin equipped me for dealing with the health board in Southwest Queensland,'' Freeman said.
''It assisted me with my administration duties and helped me to understand the difference between administration and governance.''
Freeman and Watt were thrust into the limelight after winning the national secondary schools title.
Watt has since been a member of the New Zealand elite squad and Freeman made his name in bowls administration.
''Bowls is struggling for members today,'' Freeman said.
''The secondary schools championships is changing the face of the sport.
''Bowls is no longer just a sport for the elderly. It is a sport for a lifetime and can be played it from a young to an elderly age.
''The sport is offering new product to encourage people to start the game at a younger age and stay in it for life.''
