Hosted at the Victorian Croquet Centre, Cairnlea, Victoria Australia
video 01 of play on Saturday 9 October 2021
Who is uh the the spearhead behind the Australian cro Academy good morning Greg good morning GTH it’s great to be here and uh the play is just coming out to warm up at at the moment uh on on a beautiful Melbourne spring day uh the great prospects in store Greg
So the two players out there at the moment are Leicester Hughes and Steven Forster Leicester is uh ranked 116 in the world one of Australia’s top players uh Steven fer in the bottom leftand corner there you can see he uh has a very interesting side uh stroke and um
This is uh this is something that we’ll we’ll comment on a little bit during the the commentary now Stephen is uh one of the world’s top Association croquet players uh he is not usually a golf cro player which of course is the tournament that is uh under contest today uh so
It’ll be very very interesting to see how his incredible shot making matches up with the uh experience of tactics of the other players uh one of my other co- commentators today is Rosie land re um the first Australian uh women’s golf croquet champion and somebody who’s uh
Represented uh in cro at the very highest level and even at gate ball as well I believe good morning Rosie good morning Gareth thank you for that kind introduction I hope you can hear me can we we just check all that that’s lovely we are good what a terrific what a
Terrific day it looks like they’re at Canley I think in New South Wales we’re all very jealous that they’re able to be back on The Lawns today or be it very safely from what I can see so it looks great what a what a terrific uh event to be having these
Three Giants of the game um all competing against one another wonderful yeah it’s a it’s a very uh gripping and compelling prospect that we have ahead and you can see there they the players have gone down to Corner four to start practicing their their rollups to the the first two in fact i’
Wonder actually if that was the first shot uh we didn’t get an indication from the the court that the game it’s no it’s not it’s actually Lester just playing shot it it just looked well well I gather I gather Rosie that under the the uh the terms of the
Condition the the the play to today that the players will be using their own balls the whole time so I think that each player will will actually be keeping with the the a particular color of of ball but I’m not sure about that we’ll see how that that uh to comes out
As the competition progresses but we can see that the players are all masked up um and uh that’s that’s good to see uh now now it looks as if we’re we going to play the first shot in so uh Greg uh where’s the the best place for this this
Ball yes well Steve needs to get it right in front of the hoop to put the pressure back onto Leicester to make sure that um he gets us an advantage and it’s not a bad shot at all look at that he’s done extremely well to get that position that’s needs to make a
Decision so either he blocked the blue ball from running the hoop or takes it out so it looks like he’s going to take a position no oh it’s AOS well yes exactly what um a magnificent shot a clearing shot and I think that’s just a a respectful answer
To where they see or where they know Steven um is a bit of a dark horse in in this respect um Steven can easy obviously easily run that hoop so it was logical that that um Leicester would take that challenge respectfully what I was going to ask the rest of the
Commentary team what do you think of the uh lawn conditions appears to have just been recently air rated and um and this uh the lawn the lawn might pose some interesting um lagging um positions today Gareth what do you think about looking at that well well I think the
Best person to ask that is uh Kevin because Kevin is actually uh one of the people that is looking after The Lawns at the moment so Kevin uh could you answer Rosy’s question about the the scarification of The Lawns you’re right Rosie the The Lawns have been scarified um within the within
The last two weeks um and they’ve been fertilized as well so um that they could cause a a few issues on delicate shots during the day and occasionally the ball may run along the line of the scarification and and not go where the player wants it so it
Might be worth looking out for that during the day as well thanks Kevin so Steven tickling the the blue into the front of the hoop and Greg is this another clearing shot it certainly looks that way and it would be a great oh he’s got rid of the
Black which is a good good um position for that for that shot so yes Lester’s come out firing like his attitude towards this game is really positive and he’s he’s using his strengths I mean the single ball stroke is something he’s very very good at and it’s a weapon that he’s using
Currently thanks Greg so Rosie the the clearance of of that black there presumably was was not what Leicester was thinking or or was he thinking that yellow is to play and can easily clear the blue oh yes definitely exactly what Greg had to say is um it’s a really strong
Attitude about beginning well he’s tried to jump that which is just showing how aggressive he intends to be how knowledgeable he is about um Steve’s skill shots and how he’s just got 40 years experience on the lawn like nobody else in Australia at the moment so um he obviously was confident taking the
Jump um and that was because he thought Steve was definitely going to run that hoop so um interesting to see you’ll find this to be very advanced level there’s Steve jumping around first hoop you got to love him um I think he’ll always be he will put the pressure on
For this first game he’s going to absolutely lay down the law to Steve so it’ll be great to watch um no pity pad here there’ll be lots of Smashing balls around which isn’t great to see yeah than thanks Rosie and I I think that uh leicester’s yellow ball might
Have been offside as a result of that jump shot I’m not sure we’ll soon see whether he gets moved over but yes it was a very aggressive move wasn’t it it was uh really came out saying look I’m I’m going to be clearing you I’m going
To be jumping you uh and now he’s just over overshot that one a little bit there uh so really intriguing uh start of the game Steven obviously pumped up too uh Greg uh anything special about uh how you might approach coming up to hoop to as the opponent’s gone a little bit
Wide yes it’s interesting that Red’s gone a little bit far um that gives black an opportunity now to take charge of the hoop and and be able to obviously you can’t make the hoop unless you’re in front of the hoop um so blue and black have a bit of an
Advantage here of um getting getting at least one or two balls in front of the hoop so Steven’s got a decision here to make uh sorry Lester to to position positional play critical to get in in front of there so just gone a little bit too far that’s probably the softest shot
That leicester’s played so far so stevenh trundling in just behind so Rosie can uh can what can red see do you think I think red can see black down near hoop one is what I think he can see um oh exctly what he was trying to do is as
You could see he was trying to cut it in such a way that was far enough away but that he still landed in a reasonable position a running position as Greg said you can’t run the hoop unless you’re on the right side of the hoop and Steven there has gone for a
Missed it unfortunately the positional shot to uh block Goodbye Blue what a beautiful swing Leicester has it’s just got a beautiful Cadence sort of pendul mesmerizing sort of flow to it doesn’t it it’s absolutely magnificent to watch so uh Greg the the position at this this
Hoop um dominated now a little bit more by by ler do you think yes well blue b we’ll just see where it lands here this time and come up a little bit short there that’s gone I think that’s indication of the condition yeah may maybe picking up some
Of the scarification channels that Kevin was talking about earlier yeah and ler being aggressive again and having no so uh Kevin uh viewers may be interested to know a little bit about the competition um and in particular the the gentleman For Whom the competition is is named so as we see
Steven coming up to take this shot at hoop 2 and going through it very nicely taking a two-nil lead I just wondered if you would wouldn’t mind um just telling us a little bit about uh the the competition and and and and Owen Edwards himself uh yes Gareth um we’ve named the
Competition the the Owen Edwards golf croquet challenge um and so we intend to have it as a Perpetual event um and this being the first Owen was a a pioneer of golf croquet in Victoria and in fact in Australia um started playing in ‘ 84 um initially he played Association
Croquet and continues to do so at the ivanho park Club um but he had an interest in golf croquet and he in advancing the game and he spent uh a few years introducing it to clubs and introducing it at um state level and then at National
Level he was a very good player himself he’s won three Victorian championships three Australian championships um and represented Australia in World Championships four times during his career and a very accomplished referee as well well that was the other facet of his life in cro he uh he spent oh
Probably 10 years or more uh leading a leading referee in Australia um teaching referees um right writing about um rules and laws and improving the laws um and and promoting promoting croquet as well yeah that’s an illustrious career and we’ll we’ll uh we’ll hear more about um the amazing contribution that Owen
Has made to the to the sport uh over the course of the weekend and uh we we’ll probably be tapping you on the shoulder to give us a to to repeat that and embellish it a little bit more later on Kevin thank you thank you very much for
That uh while while Kevin was telling us that we uh Lester has managed to claw back hoop three he often in that situation players are are looking to make two Hoops now Rosie this is something that you’re a great advocate for you I remember you telling me you’re
Never worried about being two Hoops down if you um if you you’ve got an odd-numbered hoop in front of you uh is that the case yes it’s it’s pretty much a a basic tenant of the game if you’re in a position where obviously you want to go
To the front or you need to um catch up to some sorry if you not just need to catch up but you want to actually really take control of the game and that’s the odd numbered attacking at the odd numbered Hoops so that you’re running the odd-numbered hoop very very cleanly
And getting into a position preferably in front of the hoop but again still quite aggressive in this case to be behind the hoop because you’ve only got a six yard clearance or seven yard clearance and that is um often very very handy to have so as you see here now
Steven’s about to clear to the short side and while that’s um okay and obviously stops yellow from having a go at the hoop oh red having a go at the hoop the the real issue there now is that Leicester has really only got a short clearance so um for this standard
Of play um six yards is no guarantee of a miss and so so we’ve got all seven yards in this case probably and we’ve got um a real game on our hands when you have players prepared to take on those odd hoops and really run down and and
Pose that threat to the Oppo getting in position to be the first person to run the next hoop very important yeah thanks Rosie and and Greg I just noticed uh that in uh Steven is able to do what he’s just done now clear the the yellow with the black but he’s
Also going to be able to do that with the blue so is that a sort of a pattern that we see quite a lot um definitely and and because they’re so good at it it it um you know as we were saying before it’s a weapon that they can use consistently to take
Charge of the hoop it’s a good position with yellow coming down do see and it’s you can notice that it’s Wired from the blue ball as well although blue will be we think at oh well not sure what happened there that was very interesting we didn’t get
A good angle of that but do you think do you think he was trying to block the red and it sort of and it curved away Rosie do you did you see that oh yes I think that’s exactly what he’s trying to do and and um again like
You say an unusual choice but he must have been confident in that positioning I know myself I’d be a little bit more circumspect about the lawn um Taking My Ball away on such a soft shot and I would um knowing Steven and also the position of the game and knowing that
Leicester did his long run intentionally I would be definitely have been taking the blue out solidly and potentially cut rushing it over to cut rushing my own ball over toward five which is also a pretty normal um technique in these situations so there’s that repl yeah that replay he he he was
Really not that was just an incredible curve wasn’t it I I mean I K Lee is famous for some interesting character in The Lawns but that was uh that was really incredible yes ler now oh now what is happened there he he didn’t yeah he cleared the the black from some distance
From that angle it looked as if the the red ball might have even challenged the hoop but uh I don’t think that did happen but certainly it was a a brilliant a brilliant brilliant shot from Leicester he’s really coming out firing um so we what we what we now know
Is that there is quite some curve on the the line between Hoops three and four and and uh Kevin is this something I mean you’re very very familiar with these greens you can read them like the palm of your hand uh is this something that’s well known on this particular
Lawn on this particular lawn it certainly isn’t um I had my my hands in my mouth watching that shot that that was most unusual really most unusual oh um L is Mr hoop that he he would really have loved to have got leaving Ste he’ll be disappointed with that one um
The score for the viewers at home is actually two all it’s not one two um and it although it’ll probably be 32 to Steven now uh Rosie Steph just tickled that through would do you think he should have builted a little bit more I think in normal situations he
Would have done so he may be feeling a little bit um taken back by what happened at hoop four or some of the the situation there and just preferred to run a nice clean hoop that’s still very much um while it’s it’s not hoop running distance potentially on these Lawns it’s
Still very very much clearing distance for Steven it’s not an issue and as you see leest there has done his first lag past the hoop which he was looked to be a little bit disappointed about so Steven’s obviously not overly concerned but’ll be interesting to see where this
Black and that looks oh that’s sort of wide sort of in hoop Runing position Greg uh what do you think about the position of that black ball there no I mean very difficult on these conditions to get it nice and close and he’s he’s done well to get it up there
Um but yes it it’s going to have a look at it uh but the the um the red Can it can it do anything about that black there or is it is it is it is because black would be able to run the hoop and red can’t clear
It is that is is that what’s on his mind you think Greg um absolutely so so it sort of pays here to be a little bit shorter just to make sure that we do stay you know a good position and now it put the pressure on
Um on Blue to play the next stro so Rosie uh what what’s what’s Steven’s options here I I actually think that um Lester may have gone up he may be able to run the hoop from the non-playing side and clear that black sufficiently to so I think the pressure
Here is on Steven to remove the yellow um potentially um and or take a great position for himself so that that’s there again but um yeah and he’s gone for position yeah he has he must be slightly off to the the left hand side yeah uh but even if um even if the
Red clears the black it’s not going to be able to clear it very far is it so the black should be able to clear the yellow is that would that be fair to say except if Lester hits the way hits the way it deflects and uh that’s that’s that’s why we have
Experts in the commentary Booth because uh that’s exactly what Rosie said and uh Stephen now quite a long way off with the black with a very threatening yellow in front of the hoop so uh we see what what what sort of distance is this Greg come in
Coffee with milk no sugar thank you great and we’re getting Kevin’s coffee order there which is all very nice to know I don’t know whether he’s getting a a flat white or a or some sort of exotic Melbourne blend but back to the back to the action with Lester with his yellow
Ball just be having been unceremoniously cleared from some distance and uh it’ll be the blue to play so so Greg uh step is sort of engineered after a couple of rotations a reasonably favorable position here yes he has and now he’s using the the black ball to get an even better
Position but not only that he’s actually wired yellow from running the the hoop itself so it’s a very good shot yeah yeah it’s a little little promotion there and but it’s well within List’s shooting range isn’t it absolutely C Lester shaping up we see this wonderful swing of his now little cast
Lovely throw follow through oh has he put the black ball through Stephen Steven says yes and uh it’s interesting isn’t it how Stephen uh pops the clip on top of the the crown of the hoop um which is actually very much an association kroer uh little affectation now he’s caught
He’s holding his Mallet in the air Rosie what’s what’s what’s this holding the Mallet in the air business well that’s a very very traditional signal for the referee to come out and have a look it’s part of our wonderful ETI in um GC and in AC so
Um to call the uh uh referee elegantly is to put your Mallet in the air with the end of it up and uh just on the part again very respectful of your opponent triple cheing that that ball is definitely through and the referee you’ll see he now running a straight
Edge or going very close to also she seems to be out there to judge the position um of Steven firing at some point as well to the next to the next hoop which is hoop seven so so that there’s no doubt that the ball is
Through the hoop um or is that do you think do you think that’s why stepen called the referee is it because the shot itself might there might be a committed when he plays the shot yeah correct correct that’s right and that that fault and and Kevin’s probably the
Best to clarify what that’s most likely to be or Greg what a wonderful shot though that’s a beautiful shot right in front of the hoop so Greg fantastic outcome there for Stephen yeah Steven’s got a bit of a bandage here so Lester’s because he’s been shooting so well this is
Interesting so he’s able to put his ball into a hoop running position he’s going looking at taking out black with his red ball um so he’ll um line up black now and get rid of it because it’s in that hoop running position yes he’s really bargaining on
Being able to clear the black isn’t he by by lagging with the the yellow there and not trying to clear it like he was earlier he’s it’s a sort of a switch around in the tactics Rosie is that something that that you see players do a
Fair amount sort of Chang the style of their play as as the absolutely so what Lester is doing now is a classic Chris Clark um um initiative and that is to put a ball into running position with your first lag and to clear with your second particularly if you’ve got a very good
Clearing shot obviously like Leicester has you can be confident um the distance was easy for list and not not particularly diff difficult at all and um so he is now punting on Steven missing the yellow ball so that he can have a clear and easy go at the hoop
With yellow and he’s confident to have that go um The Hoop with yellow it’s going to be hard for him to roll it all the way down to the next Hoopa which is the difficulty and and Rosie if you didn’t do that what you called the Chris Clark
Maneuver there then and and instead you you oh he’s missed it oh that’s uh that’s unusual to see a Miss like that from just six yards or so uh but just to come back to the question Rosie the if if instead of lagging your first ball
You actually went to try and clear the opposition what’s the disadvantage of doing that well on the short side because they’re playing um clearing to a short side what you do it was and look how far he’s managed to promote it it’s it’s really really great that on that angle
He’s got it down there um short side clearances again as we said when we’re back at hoop four not difficult for these players so doing it initially is there’s no real Advantage if you’re prepared to back yourself on the second ball it means you’re going to have first
Attempted the hoop and they’re not and that’s really really important as you see there’s very little interaction in these games O So leester tickling one down a little bit steamy just coming off the edge but Steven a long way away with the the black ball and he slides that now
Towards hoop eight the score 34 in the in his favor and look at that for a shot that’s oh no it’s actually coming a little bit uh on the left hand side uh Greg is this a shot at the hoop now well given what he’s been how he’s been performing yes a bit
Unlucky yeah just uh but it’s been working for him and and I think that that’s that’s an important part of the game is that you get your Rhythm and you get your your routines in place Stephen here is is he’s not thinking about anything else he sees a hoop he’s trying
To get it and unfortun and Steven uncharacteristically uh pings off the side of the hoop so now this leaves the hoop quite open we’ve got the uh referee who is CLA keing from the Williamstown Club coming out uh again and as Rosie observed a fantastic tradition in all forms of croquet that
Everybody is terribly polite to each other and uh you never get any argument with the referee uh it’s there’s there’s no uh sort of soccer uh tactics being used here it’s uh it’s all very very uh civilized so CLA marking the balls uh Rosie what she why why is why is it
Necessary to Mark the balls in this position because the balls are incredibly close together and there could be um a situation um of a double tap and in golf croquet this is really really important Leicester needs to not only move the balls away from one another when he strikes them he needs to
Be seen to be doing that as well and an interesting anecdote that you’ll like here Gareth is that Clair keing is Lester’s wife so um I can assure you Lester will be on his best behavior because there will be no quarter ask for given um with Claire so
An upand cominging player herself very very good player on on the rise it doesn’t look as though he got the as much distance but that was to be expected with how close the balls were together yep that’s right so he was really as Rosie said he was really
Trying to get that blacker at least another seven yards away but now black has uh is still in the vicinity of the the hoop uh Greg what’s the play What’s the play from here well with black blocking red um and taking red out with the blue bll and
Next stroke or just getting rid of red all together now CU yellow is the next ball to play he’s got some options and the decision making process I mean he’s got to look at all the options first and it looks like we get getting a lag possibly wiring the red ball from
Running the hoop so Steven’s thinking would be to to get rid of the red with his ball next time and then comes that yellow which uh was unlucky not to make the hoop earlier on and the blue is catapulted down to the north east north eastern corner of
The court so Steven there will roll roll it back in and it will be red to play now a crucial thing here is whether red has a shot at the hoop what do you think uh Rosie do you think red can see the hoop here he he approaches everything so
Confidently looks like a jump to me looks like he’s probably going to go for a jump no he obviously had a very clear shot very easy and clear shot yeah that levels it up at four fantastic and the game very very evenly poised now uh Steven trundling the ball
A nice little lagging shot to within a about three and a half about 3 m from from the hoop and now this is interesting because in the past uh Lester has had a crack at these Greg and uh do you think he’ll just he looks like he’s shaping just a roll this
In now we’ll put it in because he’s um playing so well with his single ball shot he can get rid of the black ball with his red one so he’s gone a little bit deep now the reason being is black would um would hit that away in its next shot so he’s thinking
Ahead what about this blue Greg I mean that’s sort of really something of nothing really isn’t it just there yes it’s pulled up a little bit short but he’s still in charge of the hoop and Rosie this has got to be a clearance now and it’s successful yes and we see
What this is um Lester’s um forte in this game at the at the moment um he really is adapting to the conditions we saw a little roll off with that first lag of Stevens which I I don’t think um was anticipated so I thought he I think he
Was thinking he was getting a bit closer than that but like Greg says Lester’s done the right thing with the yellow and gone behind and perfect and leester will have a go now yep five yards out this is uh certainly won’t be any doubt in his mind here about having a
Go oh just uh it’s momentarily distracted I’m not quite sure what happened there now of course remember this is the where that’s interesting what’s he may have called a fault on himself Gareth he might have moved that ball he moved the ball oh well spotted Rosie right he might have I’m not sure
Yes yeah no because Steven’s playing the blue yeah you’re right you’re right amazing well again another good example of the sportsmanship and uh etiquette that’s uh a characteristic of this game of course nothing to do with the fact that his wife CLA was watching from The Pavilion so oh beautiful clearance of
The black what a great stroke that was um and of course it means that the the yellow will have another another go Greg yes well step I’ll have to line this one up um with the scores at four all uh this is this has become a real critical
Hoop and a and a game changer so whoever gets this will will take an advantage into the end of the game that’s right because we’re playing to the first to seven uh so this is a a traditional game of golf cro where 13 hoops at the most
Are played uh with the first person getting to seven being the winner so a 54 lead here and if he was to to really smack this through and take it up to hoop 10 that would really be a tremendous Advantage oh but he clangs into the hoops and now the the boot is
On the other foot because now it’s Steven with a a sort of a two yard shot at the hoop and a possibility of trundling it up to the next one uh so Rosie that’s presumably what what Steven will be aiming to do here oh you would hope yes and and In
Fairness Lester and again when they the both of these gents get to play Robbie they will be finding themselves in a position where Robbie won’t turn down five yard Hoops um and most very Advanced players don’t so you wouldn’t turn down a 5 yard hoop to clear the
Blue for example you would take the hoop um and that’s really really important but yes Steven will normally would normally also go for this hoop although it’s not a very AC looking hoop it’s a bit scary for an AC player but it’s just a job for a GC
Player yeah it certainly is very scary with those other balls around isn’t it oh dear Sten I mean that was a big Miss I mean right off the left hand leg of the hoop it didn’t even pretend to go through into the into the Jaws it was uh
He’ll be very disappointed with that one and Leicester will be able to bring his red ball back down into the mix quite hit quite hard CG oh fabulous yes getting rid of red is a is a good move so Steven with his side style of play again not troubling not troubling
The hoop there at all and look the the the in front of the Hoops quite open now there’s no no there’s nobody in hoop running position uh Rosie what’s how do you start crafting a an advantage in this sort of situation well you really need to be careful because although nobody’s in
Front of the hoop um Steve still has the strong play and I’m sure Greg will agree because he’s down on the boundary so anybody who fronts in gets in front of that hoop if if Leicester decides that blue is in a fabulous spot to clear um anything lesser puts up and also even
Though the black can clear to the short side it could easily clear and stay what we call stop and stay so um Steve still has the the um the upper hand at this point assuming he can either connect with the yellow or be in a position where he can block wherever black clears
The yellow to and run the hoop himself so yeah interesting very interesting to see I think also Leicester has been watching a lot of the um body image and and how Steve is approaching things and he seems to be the player who is playing very aware of what Steven is reacting to
As you can see Steven’s doing lots of reaction um and in GC it’s a bit like poker you want to keep your uh cards close to your chest all right so the red ball has come into a sort of a hoop running position uh black ball is
Not in hoop running position uh but he’s looking to place it Greg where’s where’s what’s what are his thoughts here do you think he’s he’s got his melon on a very particular spot just making sure red is not able to run the Hoop right because of course red will play before the black of course on the next turn so but but surely the blue would have been clearing the red the red red really should yes there should it is so given I suppose it’s uh so it’s
Really the the black is a is a is a is a is a potential Runner here as well isn’t it yes Gareth and the other thing too is that in blocking the he knows that Lester will go Lester has shown his hand he knows Lester will go
For the long Hoops um and that Lester may even attempt to jump this so what he’s just trying to do is slimy and put him put himself anywhere to make it difficult for ler to even have a go yeah or to run it so clean that he can get up to the other
End all right so let’s see if oh off the the black goes now this is very interesting isn’t it because the black is not really going to be able to stop the yellow from having a go but the yellow could clear the blue or go for
The hoop Greg what would you do assuming that the black doesn’t trouble the yellow here do you think the yellow will go for the hoop or do you think the yellow will clear the blue oh yellow I’m pretty sure now with the black balling we can’t underestimate our opponent so
If they’re in a hoop running position and they can score we need to eliminate it this Hoops going to he’s got past it nicely no I think yellow is still face be yes that’s right by shooting for yellow it would have made it a little
Bit more difficult for him to um to make the okay let’s see whether Lester is able to get this through shoots oh blobs in front of it and that leaves blue with a shot but Rosie do you think blue will have a clean swing on this um no I think uh that’s
Unfortunately what’s happened with sorry be blunt there no I certainly do um looking at the way the Hoops are reacting to the shots too um all credit to whomever set the Lawns because it does look like they are competition setting very very nice and tight firm in the ground and they’re um
They’re offering a amazing challenge for the players great Ste great shot and and Rosie really interesting there that Steven’s side style which is quite unusual in the sport in fact I don’t know anybody else that does play side style we actually favored him there he was able to adopt a stance over that
Blue ball that meant that it wasn’t really hampered like it would have been for for you or I yes we all we all forgot about that actually he he often refers to himself as the side style hack which is um obviously tongue in chei but because he
Is an absolutely fabulous player as a sid sty player he was taught that way to play that way by his mother his mother and his grandmother both very big in Australian croquet hence the reason he plays he was dragged to the lawn like a lot of croquet children are and um and
And it that’s where his very very elegant Sid stock comes from as you say very few players in the world a couple I think in the UK um but a lot of golf cro players do jump side style we notice and they don’t jump um Center style I’m not
Quite sure the effectiveness of it but um yeah interesting that uh he has got such amazing control and he’s not working down the center of his body it’s absolutely amazing yeah and Greg uh we see here the the incredible turn on the on the lawn
Um really all of the balls that came in ra Rosie was telling us that fascinating stuff about the side Style style they all sort of swung in from right to left so clearly judging the borrow on this on this axis is going to be quite crucial yes absolutely and and it is a
Skill like the these guys have been around for a while they’ve they’ve got the experience and the knowledge and and and basically they’re going to need it to to make some good tactical decisions based on the lawn conditions and how the balls are rolling but the way the the
Single ball shots and hitting frequently um oh I’m not quite sure that was unusual yeah I that’s a most uncharacteristic shot there didn’t have a shot on yellow so uh that’s what Kevin has a a comment I think about as as Leicester pegs things back to five all yes I noticed Lester’s previous
Clearing shot putting the black ball uh On the Border he you could see he also deliberately wired black from being able to hit yellow so stepen Steven’s only shot was to have a go at the hoop and that’s why it looked like he missed the
Uh Mr yellow he was really going for the hoop it was his only alternative so a great shot from leester it was which rewarded him with the hoop in the end well thanks for that uh that Insight Kevin uh We’ve now got leester stroking that in Rosie that
Looks like a a sort of spot that is really setting itself up with a Target on its back for the blue uh what do you think of that uh yes on leicester’s part so so the shot that Steven took again was a a very classic position for these Center
Hoops that we often do and that is just to take it a little bit further it’s normally a little further back in that um and it discourages a player from setting up as closely as Leicester did but he must be very confident that he can clear that blue although it looks as
Though to me oh what a shot what a shot look at that Rosie absolutely that’s incredible I mean you you called that perfectly Rosie the the the confidence of being able to hit that shot it’s what a good 14 yard 12 yards and absolutely in the middle incredible stuff and that sets
Him up now with a with a shot at the hoop with the with the red presuming that Steven doesn’t reciprocate in kind incredible stuff now I gather that we had a little bit of a Dropout it was sent a ball wasn’t it it was incredible uh we had a
Little bit of a a Dropout earlier I believe and and viewers may just need to know how we got to this situation but we are at five all and Steven has missed his clearance on the red and that will give l a chance to go six5 up Greg what
Did you make of that incredible shot from from Lester uh yeah he he made it look so easy and and all his Strokes I mean he he looks relaxed and calm and he’s he’s just um getting into his routine and and and making sure of it so just those basic
Elements of the game and just making sure that they’re they’re done properly and it’s another great shot and the advantage of going down towards the next two although he’s he’s headed a long way past that’s something perhaps that’s you know’s he’s now 13 yards away from where
Stevens’s likely to put his ball Rosie would would you have hit that as hard as he did um well I think that uh as you were saying we were saying before with the lawn particularly the balls are running on it may not have actually been his
Intention to to to get all that far um but that’s just where where we’re going to do it from my reception at the moment’s a little bit poor guys so there must be there might be something going on with KO yep I think so the uh certainly the
The the feed we’re getting is a little bit indistinct but we can make out some colored objects which we can guess where they are uh nothing challenging the hoop here I don’t think uh it’s uh black and blue certainly around yellow around and Leicester having a good look at everything
Gareth can you see Robbie in the clubhouse watching so Robbie would be very interested to see uh what how the other two players are approaching this here Robbie an amazing student of these Lawns will be studying every little curve and borrow that they’ve served up so far and will
Be plotting what he’s going to be doing at each hoop uh so Steven now with the black ball looking as if it’s going to clear the red and stay in the vicinity of the hoop and up it goes to the northern boundary looks like Le do the same to the
Black we can expect this black ball to Fizz off up to the north and off it goes what a beautiful contact that is it’s just incredible the center ball that he manages to hit every time Greg this is something that the academy is very strong on isn’t
It yes well making making sure that our skills are the best that they can possibly be and and I mean it’s no accident these guys have practiced for many hours prior and as you say Steven’s been playing for over 40 years 45 years so that that experience and knowledge
And skill is is coming to um they’re using it right now Rosie uh an interesting thing here this is this is obviously hoop 12 uh Steven absolutely has to make the hoop to stay in the game but is there a deeper sort of thing to consider as well
That that you’ve got to really make sure that you’re not styed for hoop 13 yes and and we often talk about it I mean in in New South Wales we’ve nicknamed it doing the fidal fatle so you will often find um players will will at some point Jaws the ball or or the
Person who needs to do the hoop run the hoop will Jaws it and um and try to play so that he has gets position clear position to run 13 oh unless go through great play great play to win the game so underestimated no need for yeah no need
For fiddle fatling um just a clean run-of the hoop and the first the first game is won by Lester Hughes so the first game of the the Owen Edwards golf croquet challenge goes to Lester Hughes he was actually behind for for a very significant part of the game uh but really came out
Swashbuckling uh with a tremendous style flacking the balls away going aggressively with jump shots and long hoop attempts and uh Greg uh what are your thoughts on first game no but particularly for the first game for to to see that kind of standard I mean this they haven’t warmed up yet I
Mean they they they’ve got um they got the whole competition in front of them and the standard of play is um that’s been demonstrated is has been exceptional I’m not that really was a fantastic game Rosie your your thoughts on that that opening Salvo from these
Competitors oh what a great way to start cro backup in a season when particularly the the really serious situation in Victoria at the moment with Co the guys played amazingly well for people who probably haven’t lifted a mallet for quite a few months and and I’m sure we
Can check up on those stats um later on um particularly Steven Steven’s um works as a theater technician in the hospital down at jalong and he would have been right at the col face in terms of this so for him to be able to have the amazing pleasure of having a weekend off
Coming up and playing um when he’s been under huge pressure I notice he’s clutching his tummy a little bit these days he’s looking nice and well padded after Co like most of us are um but it it’s just an amazing first I’m sure Owen and i’ I’m sure he’s watching would be
Loving every moment of it absolutely it was an incredible standard of play and and some really interesting subtleties as well and the the difference in style between the two players the the the way that Leicester came out at the beginning with an incredible attacking intent really
Really put his cards on the table and said that’s that’s the way I’m playing this game uh Steven having a couple of goes at being nuanced but then suffering the the the borrow of the loan and and uh Kevin your your impress on the way that the two competitors
Handled the conditions um with your expertise of this this lawn I think you’ve described it perfectly um in the last 30 seconds or so carth I I was going to say that there’s a vast difference in style between the two players um um given the
The way the lawn has played a couple of times those soft shots um still Sten has to be very careful later later in the day and tomorrow if um if the Lawns get a little bit faster during the day that those um balls that don’t go straight
That curve off a bit um will do so even more so I’ll be I’ll be watching to see if Steven adapts his game a little bit more towards the way Leicester was playing but both players were playing really well I loved it so far yeah that’s a great Point Kevin I think the
The the idea that these players they they can change gears and and Steven has come out with a a more subtle approach but as Kevin points out step is perfectly capable of of firing some cannonballs uh and so we be really interesting to see how he how he changes
That now he’s read the lawn a little bit also interesting to see how they change when they’re playing Robbie because of course Robbie is Australia’s top player he’s number three in the world uh he’s actually only a few index points off being number one in the world I think
His move to number three almost occurred overnight so uh Rosie any thoughts on how you you might change a game if you’re if you’re playing someone of Robert’s immense profile and standard absolutely don’t miss that’s the only the major you’re not going to have you’re not going to have many
Opportunities offered up to you you may see things that you’ve never seen before but assume it’s because Robbie’s very confident that he’s going to actually run long Hoops hit long ret and that even then he’s going to play second hoop strategies meaning everything he does he
Has in what he’s going to do in the next at least one but probably two Hoops he’ll be reading his opponent he’ll be looking for their strengths and weaknesses and and the difference here I suppose at this level of play is there really aren’t too many weaknesses most
Of these players are happy to back themselves on just about every shot and and that’s probably the difference between this level of play and normal club play club play if you know you’re a good hoop Runner you’re getting tight you run lots of good hoops this level of
Play is much more um open and much much tougher because the skill level is so high the interest today was also be around Robbie’s Mallet I imagine he looks like he’s reverted back to his uh his Dawson his Timber Dawson from his very early days in the game when I we
All knew him as you know 16 year old Robbie so um really interesting to see he’s abandoned that long GC Mallet head which is uh has been his trademark or was for a short period of time there and gone back to what looks to me to be just
A simple 9 or 10 in head um um Timber Dawson so yeah it is it’s very interesting considering uh pretty much every other cro player sort of goes the other way and adopts the the fancy carbon fiber and and everything so it’s a as Rosie said it’s very interesting to
See him going back to the uh to the the traditional sort of style of Mallet Greg are you able to spot anything in the way that uh Robbie approaches his warm-up routine I notice he’s he’s got two balls on the lawn he’s sort of doing a bit of
A mixture of hoop running clearing lagging is there a method to this or do you think he’s just doing what he fancies as as he stands in front of the ball no he’s definitely got a routine and this is the most critical part of the game you need to make sure that you
Are ready for play and in the beginning of the game you’d be foolish not to you know that first um positional play at hoop one I think that’s got to be in everyone’s bag before they start a match just to make sure because it’s nothing should be a
Surprise or um we should be able to have a proper game plan and part of Robbie’s game plan would be to ensure that he not only gets the feel for the court but he’s also got his rhythm and his routine sorted so every single shot needs a routine regardless and every single shot
Needs to be taken with enough care and attention um that you know we we virally every shot needs to be a winner so you can see here now that he’s making his way to the first this is the first shot of the game you can see that’s pulled up
Short now if he was to start the game right now he would start with a ball that was not in the best position so this little practice that he’s doing now is just setting him up for success and making sure that he is playing the shots
To the best of his ability when he’s ready to do so the single ball shot you can see now that he’s lining blue up for yellow not only does he want to hit the yellow ball he wants to hit it in the middle and and take into the game all
Those positive attributes though he’s starting to build his confidence when you enter a game and you you’ve got your confidence built and and you got to be ready so this this part of the game and this these moments we’re seeing now is preparing him for success in this match
As we see the toss being done and uh looks like Robbie’s got the blue ball Rob little practice he should he should get this in front he should he should so here we go game two of the Owen Edwards golf cro challenge uh Robbie Fletcher uh playing that blue oh it be a
Bit disappointed with that one Rosie uh very short indeed very short and and we can definitely say that sitting from here because you know he’s number three in the world and we’re all a little shocked in that respect but maybe some grand plan well I normally that would be very
Short I’ve played shots like that so so I’m feeling quite good I agree so me too so Ste Ste stepen taking his time over this next shot is is there is there any psychology in this uh you know like your opponent’s just played an uncharacteristically sort of fluffed
Shot you know do you do you deliberately then take a little bit of time Greg is that is that something that players might do or is that is that not done I I don’t think we anyone would do it deliberately but you don’t play a ball
And don’t play a shot unless you are ready so and and that and that means making sure that not only you know you’re breathing and all that sort of stuff you you part of Steven’s routine is to to make sure that he’s organized and ready so it’s good to see him taking
His time and and making sure that every shot’s a winner yeah now this time Robbie plays deep and at the right length uh now these two players of course um famously uh won the M Robertson Shield the association cro World Championships uh not so long ago in the same team
Together so they know each other extremely well um and Robbie now playing the blue ball into an attacking position Rosie um what’s what’s the what’s the play with red here for stepen um really I think I mean it it Bo it boils down to a personal preference um
Robbie’s got the upper hand here very much so even though Dro that first ball short he’s got two balls in position that he could potentially run the hoop and as you see he’s actually looking to run the hoop even from this position that’s why he was po down on the ground
He might be promoting the blue you never know no he was always going to go the hoop so but but interesting that he didn’t go he didn’t clear the yellow because the blue is in a better position to make the hoop than the black qus so
So but is that just a sign that he’s come out with with aggressive intent or that he would just think that he just wants to get it done no I think you’ll find Gareth that even if yellow can clear the blue where’s it going to clear it to the boundary are you worried
About no it was the black why didn’t the black clear the yellow why did the black have a go at the hoop and not clear the yellow because because at this level of play the the object of the game 100% is to be the first person to run the hoop so you
You every time I think I’m not sure but mullina has a fabulous um saying and Greg could probably uh confirm this see hoop run hoop so at at a at this sort of advanced level of play find players yes that if they even see or have an inkling
They’ll be having a go right and the Egyptians are the best exponents of that game well I think that’s a really good ins many of many of the viewers at home Greg you were going to say uh it’s his weapon and he needs to use them um it is something that other
Players don’t have he has the confidence and the ability and the skill level and the percentages for him to to be successful in that Str um are a lot higher so if you’re looking at percentages and and you you know you got a game plan based on percentages if
You’ve got a shot that’s within seven yards you need you’re foolish not to have a crack um because it is sending a message to your opponent so look if you if you leave me here I’m going to make this hoop so psychologically and it’s another Advantage well it’s great to have the
Insight of Greg and Rosie on on that I think a lot of a lot of uh lesser players would would have thought oh look my blue is in a better position I’ll I’ll go for the hoop with that one after clearing the yellow but as as Greg and
Rosie have made clear that’s not what these these top quality players are all about they they see the hoop they go for the hoop uh now on this occasion uh Steven is going to clear and off it goes and that will leave yellow in a commanding position Greg you are going to
Say yes you should never underestimate your opponent and just think oh well if they miss and the thing here these guys are not thinking is if they miss it’s oh they’re in a hoop running position I need to do something about it so that where that’s where the aggressive game
Comes in and you can see now Robert obviously aiming for yellow or the hoop we’re not quite sure from this angle but he’s not marking around because his percentages are extremely high for a success on either of those shots so if you you’ve got it use it so
The hoop should be won by Steven here he’s oh commentators curse there just a what should have just been a routine uh stroke through uh I I will apologize to Stephen next time I see him and I won’t make that mistake again so Rosie it is something that we all do it
Is I mean Rosie was making the point earlier that the Hoops have been really well set they’re they’re very tight the the ground is obviously hard and uh you know a very very slight deviation is enough to to lead to that outcome so it’s totally understandable so Rosie Robbie’s choices
Here is the yellow going or is the red going well really interesting I don’t know how much of yellow he’s got and if he’s going to hit it on one side yeah he may not have had very much of yellow that was where he was headed um I think
We know we know what’s going to happen now but he needs to really get Robbie down to the bottom boundary because Robbie could it’s no forone conclusion that Robbie wouldn’t clear no that’s right and he’s actually put him off to the the e East
Y yep he’s he’s put him off to the east uh you know I think Robbie will have a will be able to see that red yep it’s uh maybe about 18 yards or so so the other idea that um yeah the other idea of doing that
Gareth is that he now shoots behind back behind two which means that beautiful angle a further oh great shot great shot that that’s incredible stuff amazing sorry Rosie I interrupted you because that was just a superlative shot there and wherever wherever Steven puts this ball the black will be able to clear
It it will Greg absolutely Greg um that that sort of that sort of crosscourt shot there I mean if Steven had put Robbie further the to the South maybe that would have made it a little bit more difficult what yes there was a bit of a
Target too because you got the hoop and the red ball but as you can see his approach there was no hesitation whatsoever he just walked up and and I am I will and bang and and that’s why he’s so consistent and and and done EXT
So well in the sport of cro because his attitude and and the ability to to play these shots consistently um you know that that’s what makes him a world champion yeah no it’s phenomenal to watch so Rosie uh Robbie with a an interesting choice here I mean if he
Brings the blue in then it’s a Sitting Duck for the yellow if what what would you do here well we can’t see the blacks out of picture at the moment Gareth but I think you’ll find that he’s putting blue into a playing position because he’s confident of what he that’s a reasonable
Runner isn’t it let’s face it that that might well run the hoop if it stays there yes but I mean Steven’s really got to have a ping at this potentially too so he’s not going to’s not going to so as you said it it depends on where the black is doesn’t it
It really does whether or not black can CIT that yellow out of the way it’s a long it’s a long way away Robbie trundling the black ball up here it’s going to be quite short and I think that blue ball has a bit of a Target on its back Greg what uh
Where any special thing that can be done here apart from just clearing oh not that not that the that’s a that’s that’s a special thing well I think I think way down on his list Robert takes a two lead so that was very unfortunate for Steven uh what
Should have been a routine clearance has ended up basically jarring Robbie’s ball so that it can make the hoop quite easily so two n to Robbie we’ll put that down as a we put that down as a bit of a setback so Steve can now um he’s taking control of the next
One so he’s he’s got a good chance and an unusual Miss by Robbie a and Rosie uh Robbie not doing the Chris Clark there not not doing the sort of lagging and then and then taking taking the the Oppo ball out with the second shot well to reiterate what Greg had to
Say Robbie doesn’t have to Robbie can hit with either ball whenever he wants so it’s not really prev that didn’t even if it was an angle jump he was a good chance to potentially remove Blue from a playing position it didn’t need to be whooped Dar away it just
Needed not to be able to run the hoop so that that would would have potentially been an option this is a jaing no yeah so so interesting I’d like to come back to that Rosie because um if if if Steven had Jaws the ball there he would have it
Would have put him in quite a commanding position because Robbie can’t extricate him from the hoop can can he well unlikely very unlikely so yes it would have been a better to be Jaws potentially in that position and then when you do run it you run it nicely so
Now Robbie’s got this beautiful lag to hoop for which potentially should have been Steve’s so yeah this is what we talk about when we talk about the um odd Hoops playing the odd Hoops correctly and I think for all those uh cro players at home that are hoping to improve
Rosy’s advice on that is very very good whenever you’re on an odd-numbered hoop there’s a chance to make two Hoops it’s uh if you either Jaws or you can run through very cleanly then uh you you can actually get a little bit of an extra
Kick so Greg uh Robbie with two balls in front of the of the hoop now and and a hampered shot for Steven yes and and that first black ball coming down that if black ball had gone past the hoop then Robert would not be in this position like the position or play
Is just as important as hitting another ball so his positional play is basically one in this hoop um and and you can see he’s he’s just hit that without any thought like it’s just it’s just bread and butter the the and and it’s just nice to see somebody
Demonstrate um a stroke the way it should be played yeah and and he’s he’s made the Hoops look very wide and yet as Rosie observed early on they’re very very tight in the ground and very narrow so to make to make the hoop with such an impression that it’s it’s just a wide
Open gate is incredible so in comes the the blue and yeah you can’t imagine it will be there if the yellow although going by what you guys were saying earlier the yellow would probably have a go at the hoop rather than clearing the blue so let’s see what Steven does with this
One and slides that into a perfectly brilliant hoop running position Rosie black ball what options I think yellow’s on its way out of the game up to Corner oh oh oh perhaps the black m a nice wide Miss and a nice wide Miss go Steven here’s your chance and this is
What you do said right but can but just this is a classic situation surely getting rid of the blue is a better option than going for the hoop on this one which is what he’s done Yes except look where blue is look where blue is and where the next hoop is and that’s
Always a consideration as well so although blue has to come back um and we understand that are you still giving Robbie more too many chances at at getting back and having a a shot but having said that you’re quite right um both of Robbie’s balls are out of
Position it’s not it it should be a foregone conclusion for Steven not to put the mock on him but it should be a foregone conclusion that he gets the suit unless Robbie does some outrageous shooting which that’s a brilliant camera angle there that’s a brilliant brilliant
Camera angle Greg do do you ever give up on a hoop Greg that’s what I think you do you never so even if it looks completely hopeless would you would it not be better just to you know oh let’s great shot yeah I mean if there’s
A if there’s a sniff of hitting this you’ve got to go for it I mean every hoop is is just gold like you you’ve got to play each game each hoop is a game and you and you you never give up there we go through again
And that is a very nicely won very very brilliant contested hoop there from these players it gave us a lot to talk about a lot of lessons to be learned from how they approach things there Stephen not coming through the hoop with all that much force and Robbie is able
To position himself in front of hoop six Rosie um another odd-numbered hoop sorry GRE you were saying I’ve just noticed in the last stroke that he played for his hoop he settle down a little bit he his routine is a lot smoother um and and he just just looks
More confident when running those Hoops than earlier in the game so again the the body language is noticeable guys we we can see that Robbie is nothing changes if he does he missed those two balls at three nothing changes in his body language Steve’s a bit hard on themselves and and golf
Croquet is a lot to do with reading your opponent as well and being chosen to jump yes what a spectacular what a who well done spacular well love a replay replay abely Take a Bow Ste forer because this is incredible look at this nice little jump over the yellow and bouncing
In and loads of Top Spin through so that’s fantastic what a way to level up Robbie smiling as well and congratulating Steve lovely to see and then and then returning the compliment by playing a perfect lag into hoop seven uh just to say okay you’ve you’ve done that spectacular shot now deal with
Yeah very nice okay and here are the Chris Clark tactics that Rosie has been telling us about just not going to clear that black but instead just put a runner of your own in hopefully not that short though Gareth I don’t think he meant no that
Was a bit short that was a bit short that was a bit short all right so very clear what red has to do here has to dispatch that black or go for the hoop itself who knows what Steven might be thinking might even try and jump it you never
Know well after that last sh he can do anything he might be treated to another dance no just does the sensible thing and clears the black and now of course as pointed out the uh the the yellow not in a great position yep did you notice that Steven
Played that Center style and not side style he played that clearing shop style yeah he did and he is proficient Center style as well very proficient well maybe the camera angles are deceiving here because he is tickling this one up into the Jaws oh he just hits the
Leg okay this is the first sort of technical position we’ve had I’ve been very interested to know your thoughts on on this uh Greg maybe yes jump forcing Robert to do a jump shot um and we haven’t seen Robert play a jump shot so he’s it maybe increases the
Degree of difficulty slightly rather than just having a a normal hoop swing but regardless of where he puts it you can only hit blow blue and black a small distance away but be interest to see how this turns out no so has a nice clear on the yellow
But Rosie um why why the the urgency to to for Robbie to jump there why not why not just leverage the fact that yellow is styed against the leg of the hoop um again Robbie’s play is such that and the pace that he played that at if
He had succeeded with the jump he would be quite a long way down the lawn toward the next hoop which again is this odd hoop play that we talk about um in the jump shot he didn’t get much air which which um might have indicated how he approached
It and as you say we haven’t seen him do any jumps he might not be as practiced with his jumps as he was um yeah so I would say the jump shot was taken at such a pace that he was hoping to jump over yellow leave yellow in that
Stymy position so that it wouldn’t lag to uh to hoop eight wouldn’t be able to lag to hoop eight um which would then give him an added advantage at the next ho ah now that’s an excellent point the by taking the initiative to jump the hoop it leaves yellow in that really
Really useless position so so there thereby seizing a double Advantage not only making the hoop but but having an advantage at the next hoop too so a great insight there uh when your opponent is is locked up against the leg of the hoop there may be an opportunity
To to Really um make the pay for that Greg the blue is just trundled nicely in front of the hoop leaving Steven quite a long shot with the red yes the the other thing too is that I love the speed in which Steven hit his previous stroke where he was able to get
Black to the boundary but also um you know keep close to the hoop that with his four and Robbie doesn’t muck around that’s a rush he right in the middle there’s just there’s just no better feeling there’s a player if you when when you hit him in the middle like
That oh boy it feels good and he he he must have lots of moments where he’s feeling good yeah it makes a Beautiful Noise as well doesn’t it so tied at three all seen uh some amazing play so far Steven hitting this quite hard oh sort of a billion shot but
Not getting the blue which is the one he wanted a hit and that will give Robbie uh an reasonably well shouldn’t put the curse on Robbie like I did with Steph earlier so I’ll just let Robbie do the talking with this shot there we go no need for for any
Commentators curse on that one Robbie safely down uh towards hoop eight he got a bit too much wire I think for what he was intending um he did when you when you catch the wire like that you you miss out on a little bit of distance and looking at his face you
Could see he was just a little disappointed that he got that much wire but he’d have to be happy that he’s the first person closest to PO yep yeah tremendous uh bonus to not only make the previous hoop but be first at the next hoop and even though as Rosie said he
Didn’t quite get the distance he oh that’s curving in that’s a beautiful lag but it’s certainly in shooting distance of the blue and as I said even though Robbie didn’t get the blue down there uh to the extent that he wanted it’s still able to clear that blue but we’ll see
Rosie this is maybe a chance to test the idea that Robie might go for the hoop rather than clearing the red what do you think oh it’s so close to being a juicy in off Gareth I think almost that um unless yellow’s in some horrendous position I’m pretty sure blue will go
For the hoop um but that’s that’s just me watching Robbie I’ve been lucky enough to partner Robbie a couple of times and yeah he he’ll go he’s he’s certainly sh he’s certainly shaping for that Greg is this is this what you do you go for the hoop oh
Well yes yes yes yes um when you’ve got that skill level it it just looks like it’s you know it’s doesn’t look like a long hoop but it’s just brilliantly executed and it’s a pleasure to watch yeah it’s just he makes it look easy I mean it’s just it’s
Incredible all right so Steven now in a bit of a pickle he’s um 53 down he’s got a slightly slightly hampered there but with his side star and cope with that and putting his ball reasonably deep but certainly in a running position any special tactics here Rosie
When you’re 53 up and and going for hoop eight can you can you be more aggressive can you or or do you do the opposite do you think well you know the opponent has to be more aggressive well I think with the first lag what what Stevie has said is that if
You put something in front I’m going to clear you um basically Andor I’m going to go for a hoop so in putting something to the boundary the way he has or near to the boundary the way he has he said there’s going to be no advantage in you
Shooting me away although you never know yeah Robbie may still be going for this red it’s quite short for him so I can’t see from his no he’s going to do a placement shot just places it up so this now gives Stephen the classic Choice Greg what do
You think is this a a hoop a hoop run certainly on the table yeah yeah yeah so for those of you who have just joined us the the score is 53 to Robert Fletcher Steven needs to claw one back remember it’s the first up to seven so Robert only needing two more
Hoops to take out this game the first game was won by Lester Hughes in a fantastic tussle it looks actually like Stevens going to take out the black unless he can cut it quite a way up the lawn is not too much advantage in him doing that
No no because even though the yellow is in a running position the black should be able to clear it that’s a shot of about 10 yards or so uh and very much within Robert’s frame of execution the message Steve has given Robbie in that and also given to Lester
Is I’m probably going to turn down 5 yard Hoops or four yard Hoops which is an important thing you know tactically it would have been worthwhile having a go just to let them know that you’re not worried about having a go so at this level of play it’s not so much tactical
As as the messages that you’re sending with your skill capabilities and confidence well he’s um come up with the result that he wanted Steven because uh Robbie uncharacteristically missed that shot I guess I I’ll come back to the the psy the psychology of it though and that is
Oh good who it’s a beautiful shot great shot okay four five um it’s it’s just this idea that you’re you’re behind you need you need you need to make something happen or do you what what what’s what’s the difference in the way that you might approach the game when you’re 53
Down you set yourself up to make it as easy as possible you go Greg you’re right there are times to take risks when you’re when you’re in a position to um when you’ve fallen behind or but I think the secret to all of this is like the schore just does not matter
Um regardless of what hoop you’re for you are going to get that hoop and then at the end of the day you find out that you’ve won the game so it’s just just a case of if you are behind yes there is a tendency to take a few more
RS okay that’s an interesting Insight that Greg is basically saying just take one every hoop on its own merits uh don’t don’t think about the score too much uh and that there’s no special treatment when you’re 35 down or 53 up oh look at this oh sliding that ball up it tacked the
Hoop but just clip the right hand wire Rosie this is a hoop running chance for Robert yes well we know what Robbie’s likely to do Robbie’s disclosed all his form he’s telling us that if he’s in front of a hoop he’s shooting at a hoop
And that’s all there is to it so um the Oppo should be taking that into consideration when they’re making their decisions here’s that shot from Steven which looked as if it might curve in Steven of course is uh very knowledgeable about the curve on this hoop 34
Axis uh but now has a difficult little problem to deal with Robbie against the the wire I’m not sure whether that blue is a runner if is actually against the wire um interesting choice there Greg what’s what’s happening there well Robbie could easily get rid of the
The yellow Ball by putting it over there he can actually get rid of one of those but hopefully red will be able to get blue out of the Jaws in a couple of shots time but being Robbie might even just jump it like you very hard to
Predict what’s going to happen um but Steven’s trying to set himself up with a with an actual stroke with his other ball yeah so Rosie the the point of that par that previous shot from Steven was to put his his yellow ball into a position where it could could attack the
Blue is that is that right correct and clear to the long side so he’s trying to put any as Greg said he’s trying to give himself the maximum opportunity to clear that blue if he needs to but again Robbie may throw something in the mix by
Just simply trying to jump it you can tell he’s in a quandry he doesn’t like to play um if you can see the hoop he doesn’t like not to go for it so you can see him weighing up what might happen here and and the chances of the blue
Being a crush which is another thing or a fault um an issue he’s looking very carefully at how far it’ll go if if red hits it so it’s certainly the longest that we’ve seen any of the players oh he’s going to jump um he really really thinking about
This a lot uh there’s a chance as well even if he messes up the jump that the he might land on the blue and the blue will come out but I suppose then the yellow just clears it anyway let’s see what happens here this is be very interesting okay well the the Blue’s
Come out nothing in front of the hoop now so so it’ be really interesting to see how Advantage is choreographed here so if you’re Rosie if you Steven where would you be putting this yellow I I think you’ll be looking at a wide position off black or a wide position interesting I’d be
Going deep personally but um just so that I had a potential Runner sometime um but nobody none of the four balls had a had a actually have a shot at the hoop Robbie’s looking at a promotion by the if you can or some sort of a wire from Red yeah
Interesting yeah promoting the black into a hoop running position would I’m not quite sure where the red is I think the Red’s off to the the right of our screens isn’t it it is yeah Pro promotion or just moving yellow oh no beautiful okay and black doesn’t it just sort of goes
The opposite to what he intended I think doesn’t it he he would have liked the the red to be where the black is and the the black to be where the red is so Greg yes yellow yellow put into a position where perhaps it might even be Wired from the
Blue beautiful clunk wasn’t it yes another another lovely shot so big pressure now on Steven to clear this blue ball if doesn’t Robbie is in Prime position to take a 64 lead and as Rosie observes it’s Center style now for this this vital shop oh beautiful right in the
Middle right in the middle and not not with too much Pace either so the yellow ball is is remained in the vicinity of hoop 10 now Rosie does Robbie just come back in or is it deep do you think again I just we just need to see
The uh positioning of the other two balls oh well yes he’s he’s coming in he’s quite happy he’s I think the angle of yellow is that he’s concerned that they may he may be able to jaw so he’s making sure that uh the he has got a ball in a good
Position yeah I mean the red the red ball is a very long way off um so the the shot for Steven here just to get back into the mix well clearly Robbie thinks he’s clearing with the black so clearing yellow with the black Steven’s tried to
Put in a block and it’s a bit short yeah this is certainly within Robert’s capab abilities to to clear from here no he doesn’t he just tickles it in okay all right yellow to play obviously can’t leave the blue there no but again as we see it’s it
Becomes it becomes difficult cuz it’s a short side clearance so again this sort of okay link for Robbie no stress looks like he’s looking for a wiring position on yellow so looking at a couple of turns and sometimes it pays to be a little bit patient and not put
All your eggs in one basket but if y if blue is Wired from yellow and red takes out black then blue is in the the dominant and and controlling Point yes blue looks quite dominant now doesn’t it with yellow not seeming to have a shot on
It uh well I think it might have a sliver so maybe just black sets up or maybe even a tiny little tickle on of a promotion maybe yes he’s tried for it oh tries to come through the hoop the other way okay well we’ll be having a a change
Of commentators in a in a moment um our next two commentators are champing at the bit waiting to to come in and give their insight as Robbie takes a 64 lead and as we come up to the to play hoop number 11 so Greg and Rosie thank you very very
Much for your contribution this morning um if you feel like sticking around absolutely no problem at all um but we will we will welcome our next commentators who are Alex Verge and Peter friya good morning Alex hey there Gareth how are you yeah good we’ve had some we’ve been treated to some
Fantastic uh croquet this morning and uh good morning Peter good morning now I haven’t been able to watch all morning so a brief summary of the morning’s play for me absolutely well we had a fantastic first game uh uh between Steven and Lester Hughes and that was uh that went to the
12th hoop which Leicester made to take a 75 win and in this game Robert has been in the ascendency for for pretty much all of this game Steven has been Clinging On uh but as we can see now Robert just needs one more hoop to take to take Victory
And swiping at this one all missing and we’re gonna have Steven with the red ball playing and he’s got this nice yellow in front of the hoop so Alex would you be looking to clear the clear the black here uh with Robert it’s interesting can one clear far enough I mean Robert just
Had a Miss that’s probably his one miss for this half hour um steeve ste’s quite close he’s going to clear but you could actually just sit on the black ball depends on what the laik well we’ve uh We’ve we’ve been observing some very interesting things about the the lawn conditions as you
Probably noticed the The Lawns have been recently scarified so there’s a lot of little grooves in the lawn uh we’ve seen some really really amazing curvature particularly on the the line between Hoops three and four so these are things that uh you can you’ll be able to spot
Uh as the game goes on but Robbie now has to clear of course here it comes oh and he misses so through it goes now Peter there we go never listen to me Peter uh Steven now faced with a very makeable shot should he be he’s 64 down
Does he need to think about the next two absolutely he’s trying to get position at the next h and it’s a beautiful shot look at that it’s gone a little bit may not but he’s in control yes he would have preferred to be back about uh three four feet so they
Still had a chance at hot 12 but he had to get down there he couldn’t just uh knock around a lot of uh junior players would be trying to drw Super 11 but at this standard you don’t KN around jaing you just try and run the hoop cleanly get down to the next
Hoop little little bit long oh dear he’s blocked yellow’s clearance on Blue so what are you doing here Alex are you are you clearing or you just positioning knowing knowing how position yeah I’m taking position um red has blocked yellow’s clearance shot on Blue so as Alex said Robbie is just
Tickling that one in because the yellow ball cannot clear the blue now Alex we did see an amazing jump shot from Steven earlier uh at in this game he uh he’s he’s clearly not frightened to do uh clearances and jumps and all sorts of things would it even occur to him here
Do you think Steven doesn’t play a lot of golf croquet in fact he doesn’t appear in the world rankings so I I’ve been really interested to see what he decides to do a jump a jump shot clearance here is possible or he could promote red into into
Position yeah tried for the tried the jump he tried the jump you know really good Association croquet players that come into golf croquet tend to try for the big shots whereas the little blocking shot is really the most Superior shot to play you know that it’s
The highest risk a block shot but it’s also the highest return Yes we saw it was wasn’t it uh we saw in the first game Leicester coming out uh firing he was you know really shooting hard and taking things on everything you know he if he could see the hoop he was
Just going for it uh now as you’ve said we at Club level but in particular uh you see a lot more blocking and the blocking is very effective but we haven’t really seen very much oh that’s very wide so Robbie now in total control of this hoop yeah and going for
It and going for for it I don’t know where the yellow yeah Peter do you know where the yellow is yellow is oh sorry that’s red no no um yellow got cleared to to the fourth corner by Blue remember okay well the yellow will be coming back in now because Robert has
Failed to make don’t forget red is in runnable position even if it is on the North Boundary okay that’s optimistic uh but as Alex said it’s got a clear view of the hoop and it and it and it could um oops excuse me yellow was in the diagonal opposite part of the
Court yeah so yellow comes trundling in now and looks as if blue will be able to pick it off yeah stev was definitely try to put yellow where blue couldn’t see it on the other side of the and that’s gone a little bit too far it’s a very good defense position
For in case blue blobs now being 64 down here is Steven has to make something happen does that affect the shot Choice Alex um well I think it must be 65 shely because Steven got hoop 11 uh so it should say 65 on the scoring should say
65 yeah yeah and what it means is that Steven not only has to win hoop 11 hoop 12 but that create that gives Robbie first shot at 13 so it’s a you know it’s a double-edged sword trying to trying to get 12 and 13 together so Steven is
Going to need to have his second if he makes H 12 he’s need going to need to have his partner ball in a really good position for an approach or clearance at 13 now it’s going to be very important that Steven is able to clear the black with
With his red because that black is very very threatening um stepen of course going down in the first game to Leicester at this hoop we won’t want to go two games down tell you what there’s no shame losing to Lester and and Robbie especially if you’ve made anys in those
Games doesn’t quite get the block there Alex no but I consider that still to be a good shot he’s putting psychological pressure on Robbie for an unforced eror yes yes Robie stalking pacing oh and pays off Runners said y yeah okay all right well this will be
Interesting we’ll have our first if uh Steven can make this hoop I’m not quite sure where the blue is did you see where that was Peter uh out to the right near hoop uh four Four okay so oh and stepen looks like he might be trying to use the yellow to block the transit of the blue are there any special things that you would take into consideration based on the fact that it’s not just important to make this hoop for Steven but
Important to be in a good position to win hoop 13 is it is would that been affecting the way he thought about that I tell you what the most important thing is you must you must ensure that the ball you make hoop 12 with doesn’t just grovel through the hoop it has to
Come through far enough about 14 in to actually give you a shot down to runnable position or clearing position at hoop 13 you know the best possible situation is for is for a ball to be L lodged in the jaws of the hoop then then Robbie Steven can Lodge
In the jaws of the hoop then Robbie can try and clear him cry and jump and knock him through now that would give Steven hoop 12 and first shot to 13 so there’s a dream you know um I doubt Robbie would I doubt Robbie would risk jumping a blob
Ball in the hoop for that reason yeah well Steven giving this a whether he should run with yeah with red yeah sorry yeah no no no I think uh I was just going to ask Peter what he would do in this situation is the biggest problem is that if you
Get too cute I mean you could set up a promotion shop after you get through um The Hoop but that means uh taking the time to set things up uh I don’t like promotions to other Hoops but there are some players who are very very good at it um at the moment
He’s trying to work out whether he should hit black but there’s no real point to doing that uh I would be trying to do as Alex said Jaws hoop 12 and then see if I got an opportunity to wak off one of robie’s balls to get down to
13 so just to be clear there you’re you’re saying that if if the red was to just Jaws into the ball into into the hoop that uh yes would give yeah okay all right well he’s certain if I’m Steven I’m just making the hoop make
The hoop and then play 13 you know all this all this farting around Jesus makes it a slow game fiddle fiddle fadling I believe uh Ro Rosie was refering to fiddle fiddle fadling I was thinking of of a longer multi- syllable expression that we have used growing up
So step really thinking about this uh he does have options though of course so he’s he can clear the black he can run the hoop he can try for the jaing there’s all sorts of trying to jaws with red now is a very dangerous thing you’re
Best to Jaws from an angle because he might just dribble through the hoop so that he’s actually still in the Jaws but has technically run the hoop that would be a disaster I’m really really thinking about this is a moment of high tension in this game it’s come after a couple of bad
Misses you know what’s what’s he doing now what black can now yeah okay okay okay that he lost confidence in his ability to run the hoop because he had missed a couple of clearances he did you know there this you really need to be able to to replace your confidence instantly in
Golf croquet because you don’t get a chance to sit on the sidelines and warm up again you know you can’t afford to become negative Alex the the other thing that we saw I think it was on hoop six um Robert cleared from a very very long way
Away further than where he is now so it’s you know wherever uh Steven puts this yellow Robert will be able to clear the red ball oh unless he puts it in as a blocker oh look at that that’s extraordinary placement that’s fantastic isn’t it well now we’ll see fantastic now we’ll see
What Robbie can do with this here we go game on well that’s a really really brilliant block from that distance oh it’s ex Robbie just Robbie just stroking in and that’s that’s very interesting too I mean what what’s Robbie doing with that one Alex he probably wants Steven to clear
Him down to the North Boundary so he’s nice and close yeah no but it seems that there’s not really achieving very much that’s all that’s putting the blue in there I I’m not sure is there a is is there a deeper purpose is it got something to do
With quite often when you don’t know what to do quite often when you don’t know what to do you just go back and and you look you know you’re there it’s never the same L you’re there at the game okay and uh and it has also been
Pointed out that black was already at hoop 13 so if red had made that hoop there um I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many misses from Robert Fletcher no no no he must have he must have been working not playing lately so clearly the now I don’t know what would you do
Would you would you put the the red through with the yellow would you just clear the blue would you what what’s happening no no I would be I would be hitting I’d be hitting blue with yellow on the right hand side send blue to Corner 4 and yellow to Corner oh Jesus I
Mean so that’s a that’s a really really um that is the danger strange shot yeah because he can’t move the red yeah you know he he had the opportunity to Wick off blue um unfortunately that may well have lost him the game so it’s now six all
Oh Robbie’s played right to the end that’s amazing isn’t it that’s an incredible that is number one worst shot yeah you know we all we all dream of that as a nightmare so red really has no option but to go back through the hoop yeah and and it turns out that
Black will be the first ball up up at the hoop basically yes yeah so Robbie’s actually had a reprieve with Red’s shot here so Peter what what what’s what’s a a set of scenarios here I was hoping to hear Peter’s Insight on that one uh all right so red manages to get
Up quite high this is and and in fact red will be able to clear the black ball w’t done very well getting where it’s got it has very well so although although black is in a running position the red will be a to clear it which
Means that if yellow can go into a strong position Steven might actually sneak the hoop let’s see unless he’s just blocked himself from un blocked himself yeah yeah okay all right so now will will blue go to the left in a defense will or will he
Go into the in front of the ho in the jaws of the hoop off to the left well looks like he’s going off to the left yeah well he’s no he’s thinking about it so do you think he’s tied up against the wire there Alex or do you
Think he’s little bit of room to he must be going to come in front of the hoop look oh no it’s coming all the way over the side very interesting he’s he’s left himself free to do any sort of shot he wants and it’s very difficult to wire
Yourself from the ball where it is now it’s it’s the skinniest position for wiring Steven adopting Center style here for this shot and shoots and misses oh a big moment in the game Steven sliding his red ball past the black and that gives black a chance
To win game number two of the Owen Edwards GC challenge big Miss there Alex it certainly was but yellow’s runnable as well well let’s just see what happens I love that Robbie preparation for every stroke is identical and there it goes 76 to Robert yes you’re right the stalking of the ball
There and as you say never varies does it it just the same little little little bob up and down before he hits uh you know so every stroke is the same every stroke is done with the same technique and it just gets improved and improved and his mind knows exactly what he has
To do what it has to do he brilliant to watch no I got to say I would never have expected Steven to have done so to have done so well against Robbie Fletcher I think that’s brilliant of Steven well if he’d managed to clear the
Black ball at the at the end there he would have been in a he would have had a shot for the game so yeah as you say a very a very good competition he was behind for most of the game uh and so to come back to six all uh with and and
Some amazing t ICS at hoop hoop 12 weren’t there I mean we had a lot to talk about at hoop 12 lots of nuancing um really really interesting uh discussions there um yes I we can Replay that hoop 12 and and discuss what could have been done uh it was it
Was it would be definitely well it would be definitely great to have um an extended look at at the action at hoop 12 because it it there’s a really a lot of lessons in there for for players uh hoop 12 of course is crucial if you’re
Behind you can’t afford to lose it but on the other hand you have to you have to make sure that you are set up for hoop 13 and and unfortunately for Steph he he did the worst thing possible didn’t he Alex he actually left his ball unfortunately yes
Yeah and you know basically he actually could have he could have cut Rush blue to Corner 4 and he would have probably gone to approximately the same position that red ended up in with that shot and then he could have just tapped yeah uh he would have been relying on Blue not
To clear red out of the hoop you know that would have been a low percentage chance that Robbie would have taken but he would have taken it for sure yeah well we I gather we’re trying to get some of the footage from uh hoop 12 to to replay again because it would
Be great to get your Insight Alex here we are at hoop 12 and excellent we’ve got uh we’ve got Robbie uh first of all attacking with the black now if you remember this is where you pointed out that that the red ball was a bit of a
Distractor and it clearly did its job here because Robbie clangs against the the left ight and it’s also here that it’s also here that you sort of started to think well is Steven a little is is his confidence about making the hoop not allowing him to have a go and that’s
That’s that’s where we get into this protracted thought process yes I you know I do think that when you play golf croquet over and over and O when you play it all the time you know you begin a lot of these things that Steven is thinking about now mechanically become intuitive thoughts
And they happen in Split seconds so this was this was clever you know block block from the opponent blocking the blue but and it was a nice block too wasn’t it beautiful but he then he then lacked the confidence to back himself and that’s what it comes
Down to you are backing yourself because you know you know the statistics of how often you’re going to make that two yard hoop well funny enough Alex in the next in the next game when Lester is playing Lester’s Lester’s tip that he gave everybody at the start of this
Tournament was it’s better to back yourself than it is to back your opponent missing something oh absolutely yes and that’s the problem you’re the one that makes hoop 13 Hoops 12 no we’ll talk about it later you go well this is well this is this is the bit where
You you you really realized that stepen was not thinking about may you know he he wasn’t confident about making the hoop and this is why he gets into this very long process about what he’s going to do here Richard’s book yep um you know Steven is thinking
Now I have missed he’s missed three important clearances since I arrived on commentary so that’s what he’s thinking about now he’s thinking well it’s not as long as a clearance shot but you know there’s a very small space for my ball to go through in that hood so if he’s lack if
He lacks the confidence then you know when your brain sees the hoop the ball clanging into the hoop leg you have to be able to clear that and be perfectly confident and know that you can make that hoop probably 19 out of 20 times really you know I don’t see I
Don’t see that Steven needs to be this lacking in confidence I thought it was only three games is it three games yeah that’s right so Peter do do you have any thoughts about this this position here no it’s just that Steven’s in the classic dilemma of an AC player trying
To work out what a GC player would do um I’m with Alex while back while a while ago she was just saying just run the hoop I mean even if he clings off with red um and black clears yellow Red’s going to be still somewhere in the vicinity and he should still maintain
Control of hoop 12 so he’s just got to back himself well that’s what i’ do anyway yeah I think you know what Steven lacks is having done drills of running Hoops see Steven is an AC player who is used to getting position runnable position 8
In in front of the hoop so he’s now faced with two yard hoops and golf croquet players have done their drills they know how many times out of 10 they make a two yard hoop or a three or a 5 yard hoop so Steven doesn’t have that knowledge of his own abilities with
Which to make the decisions and it’s very interesting here because I thought that he was going to go for the hoop and then he just walks away and so it was an an amazing amazing sequence of play that I mean it really really interesting to to reflect on on
His thought process and uh yeah it be great to interview him about that later on maybe so this is the situation in the match uh we’ve got Leicester and Robert both having won their games against Steven so now they will play each other so and Robert is the first to
Strike and that is falling a little short I think very close to the ho yeah very close so Alex where does the red go now does it just go deep no the red goes Southwest of the hoop well my red would go Southwest of the hoop
Yeah just so long as if it’s going to be cleared it can only be cleared into Corner one or the the the close bound that’s about where you put it quite a lot further than I would have gone a couple more yards Peter are you happy with that
Position well actually I would have been a yard back towards where they’re hitting from so that can only be hit to the near boundary about where black is oh okay yep so You’ have gone the problem now is if blue hits red he can put it into the corner now you know
Robert will still be able to clear out of that but uh sorry leer will still be able to clear from there but it makes it harder over all right well Robert has to do something you would think with the with the red ball it’s uh both a runner and a
Clearer so where is it going to go into the corner corner one i’ I’d put it into Corner one or if the lawn was good enough to do a block I’d just try and sit on top of it right we I you know I think in this
Whole passage of play so far we’ve been here for two hours we we’ve only seen one block well there’s there was an attempt at another one look yeah but you know that I I suspect that that will stop Lester running the hoop yeah okay and will it stop him
Clearing black no it’s not going to stop him clearing black Okay so
