Resilience of Gold Coast Hawks to be admired
It is fair to say that after the Gold Coast Hawks finished at the bottom of the table in November, not many tipped them to resurrect their fortunes in the spectacular fashion that they did at BPL21 in Moama.
Just seven wins went the way of the Club Helensvale franchise at Club Pine Rivers, but that was eclipsed after just 11 rounds in what turned out to be one of the team’s finest weeks.
But it wasn’t just the bounce back from a trying campaign in Queensland, but from the build up of a lack of success since the outfit rejoined the Bowls Premier League ahead of BPL14.
Conquering BPL07 and leaving after BPL09, the Hawks were absent for the next four editions of the made-for-television extravaganza, but would emerge once more for the inaugural version of the ten-team competition on the Murray at the beginning of 2022.
They came in swinging too, bringing one of the BPL’s greatest players in Aron Sherriff, as well as two of the players that would lift the trophy last Friday in Kelsey Cottrell and Nathan Rice.
Sherriff and Rice were both part of the successful team that won the event seven editions prior.
Together, the trio spent 12 of the first 17 rounds within the finals positions, just needing to defeat the Melbourne eXtreme to cement their place in the showpiece evening session.
Boasting a 9-2 4-0 lead in the second set, everything looked on track for the Hawks to storm into championship contention before disaster struck and the eXtreme found a way to overcome the deficit and win the match in a tiebreak.
The Hawks missed finals by a solitary win, despite Sherriff winning the MVP, Cottrell making the inaugural All Star team and a tournament-high shot difference of plus 49.
Former tournament winner Shannon McIlroy would replace Sherriff from BPL15 in another new era for the team, but in the three ensuing editions, the team would finish second last on two occasions with a wooden spoon to split them. Their winning percentage stood at just 37.
Another change would come as Brett Wilkie returned to the squad for the first time since BPL06 and fortunes changed in mightily quick fashion as the Gold Coast based team finally cemented a place in the top five.
It would be immediate heartbreak as the Adelaide Pioneers denied them a chance to progress further at Pine Rivers, but the hope was high.
BPL19 saw a confident team journey south for another tilt at glory, only to be in the doldrums once again as the Hawks fell back down to ninth with just seven wins from 18 attempts.
That number would remain the same at BPL20, even with the inclusion of English star Nick Brett into the team for the first ever 12-team event.
Starting with no wins from the opening four rounds, the Hawks would rally back into contention to sit at an even ledger after eight rounds and hold a place inside the coveted top five.
From there, just three wins followed in a demoralising campaign for Mark Thatcher’s squad, who would have to do what only two teams had ever done previously and launch from last to first.
The attempt looked on shaky grounds heading into the final day in Moama, with the unchanged Hawks of Brett, Cottrell and Rice finding themselves on the verge of heartbreak once more in sixth position after spending 14 of the 20 rounds in a finals position.
A round 21 victory over the Ospreys saw them remain there with an early elimination final against the old enemy in the Pioneers to come, which ended up a routine victory that saw them leapfrog three squads into third place.
In a complete reverse of the tragedy at BPL14, the Gold Coast were in the five, finally.
A bye would come to commence the finals and once again the squad’s first test would be against the plucky Pioneers, into their fourth straight playoff to head to a preliminary final.
Like their previous match against Adelaide, it would be over in quick fashion to see the monkey off the back and the Hawks winners on Friday night for the first time since their championship winning run 2,127 days prior.
The second placed Melbourne Pulse would push them to a tiebreak, but flying high with confidence, the Hawks would see them off to set up a showdown with the rampant Geelong Jets, who had won 19 of their 23 clashes for the tournament.
Having not even manufactured a set against the table toppers, Brett and Rice combined in scintillating fashion to secure the opener before Cottrell came on in the second.
Following the festivities of Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’, the Hawks got to work once more, negating everything their counterparts threw at them to cement the franchise’s finest ever evening.
They joined the BPL09 Illawarra Gorillas and BPL12 Tweed Ospreys as the only teams to go from winning the dreaded wooden spoon to holding the trophy aloft.
To top off proceedings, Cottrell was awarded her second All Star cap with Thatcher as its coach, while Brett became the second recipient of the MVP of the Grand Final following his stellar display.
BPL21 established that no matter how many times a team can get knocked down, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel and that tenacity will eventually prevail in the quest for glory.
