The Aussies have already experienced the English conditions and are no doubt tuned-in to the slower greens. Tamborine has been specially prepared to meet the speed of Royal Leamington Spa.
"Obviously we want to win against Australia, but we are not focussing on the results," New Zealand head coach Mike Kernaghan told me. "It's a reality check on where our preparation is at.
"At the end of the test series, we want to put a marker in the ground with a month or so to go to the Games and ask ourselves: 'Are we where we need to be right now',"
Since the mid-March announcement of the ParaBowls team for the Games, and far away from Royal Leamington Spa, I have been religiously training on the Mount Maunganui Croquet Club lawns.
I send down a minimum of 100 bowls each session. My delivery is sound, the timing is there and I have no problem getting to the jack on any length on the slower surface, which requires extra and smoother propulsion than what we are used to on our faster outdoor greens.
But the trick is maintaining the timing, the weight control, the right line and the consistency. That's all. When it's become too lonely doing this on my own all the time, former international Mary Campbell has kindly offered to chase my bowls down the green – with her own.
She called me out when she suggested: "You need to play short ends to get used to the weight control." She was right. Slowing down the propulsion and maintaining the consistency became an even greater art. With Mary being a competitive soul, I did wonder if it was her way of making sure she would get to the jack.
We have taken delivery of our tailored Games bowls. Each country will be using either red or blue bowls – I guess for television purposes. I'm using Taylor Aces and they are a little fatter in the hand than my normal bowls and that's taken some extra work to get used to the feel of the new equipment.
The bowls have a wider running surface, they are lighter, they have a good draw, and they travel a little further on the slower surface. It's just a matter of adjusting.
Kernaghan put it in perspective: "You keep doing the work and you can bowl bricks to the jack." I simply responded: "Do they have a bias."
I spent last weekend in Auckland training with my pairs skip, twice Games silver medallist Mark Noble from Palmerston North, to form a strong understanding and combination.
We rolled down our Games bowls at Pakuranga and Rocky Nook, where greenkeeper and former international Jamie Hill has enjoyed grooming the slower green for us more than remaining available for New Zealand selection.
Mark and I do have to adjust our balance because of our gammy legs – Mark delivers off the wrong foot - and we do bounce around on the green. We have already been branded "the Jumping Jacks."
We were joined at Rocky Nook by my Takapuna and New Zealand teammate Selina Goddard. Selina and I were at different ends of the green delivering bowls corner to corner to get extra length and coverage – the greens are also longer at Royal Leamington Spa.
Our bowls never touched as we criss-crossed the Rocky Nook surface. The usual bowlers seeing this would have said: "Oh, those crazy players are just having a bit of fun."
But, that's the degree of technicality we will go into to replicate the slow greens, hassle Australia and prepare for the Games.
