By LIAM TWOMEY
THE potential merger between Rosamond and Footscray Park Bowls Clubs has been called off. Both sides played under the Rosamond/Footscray Park banner throughout the 2012 season as part of an amalgamation between the two clubs.
It was thought that the next step would be towards a full merger however, that will no longer be the case.
Rosamond president Michael Stelluto said both clubs will compete as standalone sides in 2013.
“Through our merger discussions with the two management boards we found out pretty quickly after Christmas that we probably have a different focus,” he said.
“We probably were never going to quite get it to work in the sense that both clubs would be able to achieve the direction that they wanted to take.
“We just felt that we should continue with the strategic plan that we put in place a couple of years ago, which we put aside for a year.”
Rosamond will compete in Division Two of the Victorian Pennant Bowls Competition in 2013 after just failing to stay out of the relegation zone.
After dropping from Premier Division in 2011, Stelluto is confident the club will be well placed for a shot as finals in its new division.
“Our top team fell down to Division Two for next year which is a bit unfortunate after they had some good performances” he said.
“They lost a lot of games by that five or six shot region and unfortunately never quite managed to stay in there.
“They put in a good show which leads to all going well for next year.
“I would be very surprised if we didn’t finish in finals next year. I think we will be thereabouts.”
