The Just Better Care Roller Hawks swapped the basketball court for a bowls green to say thanks to the Dapto Citizens Bowls Club following an incredibly successful Shark Shield event in August.
The 3rd Annual Shark Shield was held on Sunday, August 4th, the tournament held in honour of Dave 'Sharky' Pople, father of Luke. Sharky was a passionate bowls player and dedicated Roller Hawks fan, always the loudest voice in the crowd cheering Luke on.
“It means a lot, it just shows the kind of bloke that he was,” said Luke Pople. “All the mates that he had through bowls and that they’re happy to get around my passion of wheelchair basketball.”
“I feel like everyone had no choice but to hear about how my basketball was going. Dad was very proud and very keen to share with all his mates how things were going with the Roller Hawks and then Australia.”
Sharky passed away in 2018 and now his bowls club comes together once a year to remember their friend and raise money for the Roller Hawks.
This year the club raised over $5,000 thanks to the participation of 72 players along with their generosity through a raffle and for the first time, a special shark themed playing shirt.
“It’s pretty awesome to me to have that kind of support. There are some blokes and their families that I don’t even know, but they’ll come up to me on the street and say they know me through dad, having that support is special.”
The bowls club was also thrilled at the growing support of the event.
“I think it’s fantastic, it’s a real push for us. I want to thank all the bowlers and the community here and our sponsors for the support of the day,” says tournament organiser John Cole.
“We had two teams down from Boorowa this year and a few visiting teams which is great and every year when the sheet goes up, it’s filled up quicker and quicker. We’ve had great support from the Dapto Citizens community and they’re all clamouring to get on board each year.”
Unfortunately, the Roller Hawks were in Brisbane when this year's tournament was held so with the dust now settled on the season and the boys back from Paris, the team headed down to the club for a roll and to say thanks for their wonderful support.
Pople and his new fiance Paris Minette paired up to take on Tristan Knowles and his partner Gina Stanwell while Shawn Russell and Nick Taylor joined forces to take on Brian Gardner and his wife Aom and the competitiveness quickly rose to the surface.
“As soon as they got on the green, it was no prisoners, no friends, it was dog eat dog,” said Cole.
“It could be chess, it could be tennis, it could be a game on Playstation, it doesn’t matter, going against each other in competition we’re going to get around it for sure,” added Pople.
The pair of Knowles and Stanwell were too good for Pople and Minette, leaving Luke with some work to do to be anything like his old man.
“Yeah, not good. I wouldn’t have done him proud today that’s for sure but a bit of fun and a bit of banter on the green. Once we came down onto the green it was all systems go just like on the basketball court.”
“He used to tell me how good he was and how much he won, as for tips whatever he taught me I’ve forgotten. A few of the bowls ended up in the sand a few times but it’s an awesome sport to play so maybe a few more up and downs and I’ll be good to go.”
In the other game, the Roller Hawks duo of Russell and Taylor were too good for the Gardners, advancing to the final where they emerged victorious in a closely fought final.
“Nick won man of the match, he really showed some style,” said Cole. “Gina supported her partner very well, under a lot of pressure from her partner too I thought but managed to perform.”