Tinker steps down to give youth a look-in

TO BENEFIT the club's future is Graeme Tinker's motive for stepping down from the region's top pennant bowls competition.The Central Wendouree bowler will no longer play in the Ballarat-Geelong premier league, hoping his decision to step aside will allow a new generation of players into the team.Tinker, 73, is the oldest premier bowler at the Bears, and one of the oldest in the league."It's now the stage where we need just that little bit more youth," he said."I thought I would make room for one of those blokes."A cricketer who turned to bowls in his 40s, Tinker began his career with Serviceman's Memorial Bowling Club before joining Central Wendouree.Having a father who was a greenskeeper for 20 years at Wendouree, and a love of indoor bowls, the seed was already sown for a shift to the greens.At the Bears, Tinker was part of the club's first premier division team for a number of seasons before illness struck.From about 2004 until the start of this season, he filled the lower divisions, with the odd cameo in the top flight when an opportunity arose.And no one was more surprised than he when the club asked Tinker to return to the top 16 this year."It was quite a surprise to be selected this year. I'm fairly proud I did my job too," he said."I thought I probably wouldn't play it (premier) again, but they wanted me and I enjoyed it."I played alright, nothing startling and I was probably never ever a super player. I believe that I'm a good team player and fit in with what they want to do."It is amazing how many games we did win in the finish - we had nine wins for the season, which was a lot more than was expected of us at the beginning of the year."Highlights of a career spanning more than two decades include division two premierships with both Serviceman's Memorial and Central Wendouree, a state final appearance with the Bears and a couple of runner-up trophies in Ballarat Regional Bowls Association fours and triples.But the long, tiring seasons have caught up with Tinker, who is undecided if he will play on in a lower division of pennant next season."I'm not really sure whether I want to play or not, to be honest," he said."I've enjoyed what I have done, thoroughly enjoyed it, but it's not the end of the world if you don't play bowls."Tinker's wife Annie will be hoping the bowls stay in their case next year, with some more travelling planned should the weekends remain unoccupied.But she shouldn't hold her breath."A few of them want me to play on and I suppose you can never say never," Tinker admitted.