Centre Fours – Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 February 2026

Takapuna achieved the rare, and possibly unprecedented, feat in the centre’s championship fours at the weekend, that being a second double of title successes on the one day.  In Sunday’s finals at Birkenhead Chris Taylor, Chris Charles, Murray Mathieson and Norm Scott-Morrison won the men’s event, beating Birkenhead’s Jerry Belcher, Steve Hoeft, Nick Thompson and Zakk Johnson 13-8. And in the women’s event, Leeane Poulson, Robyne Walker, Keiko Kurohara and Sarah Childs beat another Birkenhead combination, Millie Nathan, Lauren Mills, Lisa Dickson and Connie Mathieson 17-8.

That followed Takapuna’s earlier double this season when Graham Skellern, John Whiteford and Ian Hardy won the Dick Bree triples championship and on the same day Poulson, Walker and Hannah Dawson won the women’s title.

But while the winning margins in each of Sunday’s fours finals was greater than most, including what the Takapuna supporters might have expected, the path of each winning team to the final was anything but smooth.  The Taylor four almost missed out in the semi-finals to a second Birkenhead four, Nigel Drew, Brian Wilson, David Eades and Mark Rumble, trailing after just four ends 8-2 and coming to the last end, trailing by two. Taylor had been largely instrumental in getting his four back into contention with some effective run shots and he delivered the winning bowl on the last end with a draw. Takapuna was lying two shots when Drew unluckily took out Birkenhead’s one bowl near the jack for Taylor to calmly draw the winning bowl with the game’s last bowl.

In the quarter-final Taylor had also been the hero against Riverhead’s Billy Fulton, Steve Cox, Duane McDonald and Grant Goodwin, playing the saving shot on the second to last end when Takapuna was in danger of conceding six shots. Though outplayed for most of the match, Riverhead, had it held those six, might well have affected an almost miraculous recovery. The Riverhead failed to repeat their form of the qualifying rounds when they ousted the powerhouse Browns Bay four of Neil Fisher, John Walker, Colin Rogan and Matt Berry.

It was a remarkable effort for the Takapuna men to go on to the title. Taylor and Mathieson have both battled health issues in recent seasons, and they were almost certainly the oldest players in post-section, with Mathieson soon to turn 84 and Taylor also near his four score. For the two veterans, both Takapuna club life members, it was an additional title to their centre gold stars, for Scott-Morrison his third centre title and for the youngster of the team, Charles, his first. The decisive win in the final was a little surprising, particularly as the Belcher four had looked in great touch in comfortably winning their semi-final over Matt Higginson’s Manly line-up.
The Poulson four also had a narrow escape in post-section, to which they had only just qualified by being the second placed team in the section which had included six rather than four teams. They lost their opening match to Nathan’s Birkenhead and only gained second qualifying spot with a slightly better differential than the Mairangi Bay four of Sheryl Wellington, Jan Gledhill, Colleen Rice and Theresa Rogers. They also had a tense post-section play-off match against the Birkenhead four of Jamie Chen, Loz Croot, Bev Rolfe and Judi Smith, looking to have dropped a five on the 10th end and trailing late 15-9. But a five of their own on the second-to-last end followed by a three on the last meant a 17-15 win.

Takapuna had a more comfortable semi-final win over Sue Hart’s Helensville but probably entered the final as only the second favourite. However, the Nathan four did have a narrow and somewhat lucky win themselves against the Mairangi Bay four of Elaine McClintock, Judi Farkash, Kerin Roberts and Julie Chhour. Nathan’s one-shot win was due to an excellent run shot from Mills to take the jack into the ditch. But their luck didn’t hold for the final with the match broken open when Birkenhead conceded a six on the sixth end to suddenly incur a 3-9 deficit.

Poulson, who is proving an asset not only to Takapuna but the Harbour centre following her move from Counties, as well as other telling shots, was responsible for this by driving out Birkenhead’s bowl when Takapuna was holding what proved to be five seconds. Poulson showed all her international class, in skipping her lineup who all grew in confidence and form the longer tournament went. For Walker it was her third centre title, Kurohara’s second and the second, too for Leeane and Sarah in the short time they have been in the centre. Earlier this season Sarah partnered Lisa Dickson, also a Takapuna member, to the pairs title.