One of this country's most extraordinary international sporting careers drew to a close yesterday with the retirement of bowls legend Rowan Brassey.
Brassey, 51, announced his retirement from international competition, ending a career spanning 25 years.
An ankle injury, first sustained more than 30 years ago, convinced Brasseyto make himself unavailable for international selection. He broke the ankle in eight places when he was 18. He aggravated the injury in striving to match the fitness standards required in the build-up to the 2008 world championships.
"I've had the worst winter of my life, with the ankle becoming inflamed when I started running on it," the Aucklander said.
"I've had a fantastic run at international level and it was tempting to try for one more world championship, but I've decided to listen to my body and pull the plug.
"With fitness now being a key requirement of the high-performance programme, it made my situation almost impossible."
Along with Peter Belliss, Brassey was the face of New Zealand bowls for the past two decades.
He won seven national and two world titles, plus several other international events.
His record as an international is surely unmatched in New Zealand sport. He represented his country continuously for 25 years, from 1982 to 2006, with his final outing last year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
A player with silky smooth skills, who took up bowling after the ankle injury wrecked his rugby dreams, Brassey probably never played better than at the 1988 world championships at Henderson.
National convener of selectors Peter Kean paid tribute to Brassey, saying his contribution to the game had been immense and unmatched.
"To represent your country for 25 years is a phenomenal achievement," Kean said.
"His achievements speak for themselves and he has been a wonderful ambassador for the game. I feel privileged to have been involved with Rowan, either as manager or selector, for the past 10 years."
Brassey will continue to play at club and representative level and still has his eye on the one national title to elude him - the singles.
