RSL opt out of comp

President Ken Wellard said his club’s members were ‘‘not quite ready’’ to get back into pennant competition.

‘‘We have still paid our association fees with Bowls Victoria but being an interstate competition we just don’t feel comfortable playing in the CVBD yet,’’ he said.

‘‘We also wanted to make the decision early, rather than waiting around in uncertainty as to when the season would actually start.

‘‘This decision was made not only to ease the minds of our bowlers, but for their health and safety as well.

‘‘We will still play our yearly honour board competitions, however, and will play amongst ourselves during the 2020/21 season.’’

While the RSL has pulled out of the competition, other local bowling clubs still plan to play.

Deniliquin Bowling Club president Shane Laing said his club was still waiting on an official start date before they make an official decision.

‘‘We expect the season will be delayed until at least January, so we will revisit the issue then,’’ he said.

‘‘We are hopeful there will be a pennant season and our stance on whether we play or not will depend on when the season starts.

‘‘We plan to still hold intraclub games and social bowls on Saturdays to help fill the void until this is sorted.’’

Mathoura Bowling Club is also hopeful of a CVBD season being played, with president Stan Limbrick confident the club will compete.

‘‘If they say play, we will play,’’ he said.

‘‘The general feeling of the club is that we want to get out there and compete, while abiding by the CVBD’s rules and regulations surrounding the virus.

‘‘We will fill our teams as best as we can and if we have any individuals within our club that do not want to play, whether that be for health reasons or feeling uneasy in playing against others, we will respect their decision.

‘‘We will not pressure anyone into playing if they do not want to, but we do want to give the option of playing to those who are wanting to represent the club.’’