Bowls: HB rep rolls out mat for honeymoon

Lloyd Fitness, left, with the silverware and runner-up Dave Henderson after winning a second consecutive Hawke's Bay junior singles title this summer.

Lloyd fitness will still be on his honeymoon when he plays for Hawke's Bay at the National Eight Years and Under bowls final in Wellington this weekend.

While the Bowls Taradale player anticipates some friendly flak from teammates about the occasion Fitness will be quick to reply if the verbal reminders get a little too repetitious.

"I'll be telling them I know when to switch on and off when it comes to my bowls."

Fitness, 67, married clubmate Louise Bateman last weekend.

His previous wife died 11-and-a-half years ago.

"I didn't think I would get married again. But Louise and I enjoy being together ... we enjoy our bowls, watching rugby and cricket together and fishing at Taupo," he said.

Fitness, who will have the three role in the Bay men's four this weekend, is in his fifth season of bowls. He has won the Hawke's Bay centre's junior singles title twice, the centre junior pairs title and several club titles.

A former Wanganui rugby frontrower, Fitness played 17 first-class games from 1974-76, including a Ranfurly Shield challenge against Auckland at Eden Park. Former All Blacks, centre Bill Osborne and halfback Andy Donald, were in the same team.

"I remember Bill Osborne doing more in his pre-game warm up than the rest of us did in our entire pre-season training," he recalled.

Fitness approaches his rep bowls fixtures in the same manner he approached his rugby ones.

"No matter how good other teams look on paper we have to go in with a 'we can beat them' attitude," Fitness said.

With the likes of clubmate, former New Zealand squash representative Paul Viggers, who will lead the four, another clubmate Richard Hocking, who will have the singles role, and Bowls Heretaunga's Dean Drummond, who will skip the pair, the Hawke's Bay men's team have plenty of talent to take on Thames Valley, Canterbury, Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland at the Victoria club. "We've got a strong team on paper but I know teams from the bigger centres will have very strong teams, too," Fitness said.

A former stock and station agent, Fitness was introduced to bowls by a golfing mate when he retired. "Although I got down to a 14 handicap at golf I found I enjoyed bowls more. I realised it was a game I should have been playing years ago," Fitness said.

Both the Hawke's Bay men and women's teams qualified for this weekend's final by winning their February regional finals against Wairarapa and Gisborne-East Coast.

The Bay women will take on teams from Waikato, Wellington, Canterbury, Dunedin and Auckland at the Johnsonville club.

-Bay teams, men singles: Richard Hocking (Taradale). Pairs: Dean Drummond (s), Paul Harrison (both Heretaunga). Fours: Dave Henderson (s), Lloyd Fitness (Taradale), Greg Hodges (Havelock North), Paul Viggers (Taradale). Coach: Graeme Hocking. Manager/selector: Paul Selby.

Women, singles: Michelle Robinson (Napier). Pairs: Chris Telford (S, Napier), Helen Bentley (Heretaunga). Fours: Patsy Fraser (s) (Kia Toa), Irene Hunt (Napier), Di Bentley (Bay View), Alison Lott (Omarunui). Coach: Jim Bentley. Manager: Beryl Skidmore.