The New Zealanders compete in the first world championships in seven years over the next 12 days.
More than 400 competitors from 44 countries have gathered in Australia for no fewer than 1244 matches — across singles, pairs, triples, fours and para bowls — hosted by five clubs.
The Blackjacks completed their preparations for the event with practices at various clubs around the Gold Coast.
With a relatively new-look squad and a promising showing at the Multi-Nations Series earlier this year, expectations are high and there is a calm confidence running through the camp.
The in-form Bagrie-Howley skips the men’s triples and fours, supported by Lance Pascoe, Chris Le Lievre and Tony Grantham (fours).
Wellington inter-centre representative Andrew Kelly has been given the nod in the men’s singles and will skip the ever-consistent Grantham, who recently won the national champion of champions singles, in a strong pair.
In the women’s lineup, the star duo of Katelyn Inch and Selina Goddard will compete in the pairs, hoping to capture the gold in an event they have both excelled at in their last two international campaigns.
Inch will also skip the women’s fours with experienced stalwart Val Smith, Goddard and Leeane Poulson, while Smith will take charge in the triples, joined by Tayla Bruce and Poulson.
Following her success in the world champion of champions singles in November 2022, Bruce will contest the singles berth and she has shown her domestic dominance for the four-bowl discipline in previous seasons.
Para bowlers Mark Noble and Darron Wolland contest the men’s title, while Teri Blackbourn and Julie O’Connell will again join forces, hoping to emulate their multi-nations form on the big stage.
The vision-impaired mixed pairs comprise Kerrin Wheeler (with father Colin as director) and Jayne Parsons (with husband Brent) to form a formidable duo in this discipline.
The 12-day competition starts with women’s singles, men’s pairs, men’s triples, women’s fours, para women’s pairs, para men’s pairs and para mixed pairs in the first week of play, before finishing with the men’s singles, women’s pairs, women’s triples and men’s fours.
Bowls New Zealand head coach Mike Kernaghan has been delighted with the individual and collective efforts put in ahead of the campaign.
"The men and women have been putting in a lot of work over video calls, working as a team to understand tactics, preferences and just bringing everyone closer together," Kernaghan said.
"From a coaching perspective, it’s easy to see the players have been working very hard on what they have been tasked to do, and there is a really high spirit among the squad to get over there and get under way."
— Staff reporter
