Richard Collett (Nelson) has been taught the tricks of the trade by former international Danny O'Connor and is destined to win a bucketful of national titles.
O'Connor won the first of his nine New Zealand championship titles in 1974.
Only the great Nick Unkovich, with his record 10 titles, has won more.
Collett (29) made a start this year when he won his first New Zealand title in the singles.
That win brought him the recognition he needed to become a member of the Commonwealth Games squad preparing for New Delhi next year.
"I played with Danny in the North Harbour centre and learned a lot from him," Collett told the Otago Daily Times during the North East Valley Invitation singles.
O'Connor was a key member of Unkovich's four at the Okahu Bay Club in Auckland in his early days and learned how to play aggressive bowls from the master.
O'Connor persuaded Collett to concentrate on his draw game and develop as a lead rather than just play the attacking game he liked when he first started playing bowls.
A specialist lead is needed in international bowls and usually finds it easier to make national teams than an all-out attacking bowler.
Collett has a burning desire to compete in the New Delhi Games and to use that experience to stay at the top of New Zealand bowls for a long time.
"I am delighted to be in the Black Jacks squad," he said.
"But that is where the hard work starts. You can't sit back and just let things happen. You have to work to improve your game."
Collett learned how to adjust to foreign conditions during a training camp for the Commonwealth Games squad in Malaysia last month.
Hard lessons also came when he competed in the world champion of champions singles in Scotland this year.
"I finished 20th," he said.
"It was a big learning curve for me."
Collett experienced international bowls for the first time in 2005 when he played in the New Zealand under-25 team against Australia.
He had heard about the North East Valley singles but was competing in the event for the first time this year.
"I was very pleased to get the invitation," he said.
"It is one you don't turn down."
Collett grew up in Auckland and his father, Colin Collett, was greenkeeper at the local club.
Collett won nine Counties centre titles and four at North Harbour before shifting to Nelson when he returned from the training camp at Kuala Lumpur.
