Hello friends, strangers and weirdos, I haven’t got enough time to edit something together on this boiling Tuesday, but one thing I should absolutely mention is that just before New Years Eve, the collective Manning Eagles community got this sad and shocking bit of news about one of our own, who was a regular feature during Monday groundskeeping and Thursday bowls:

“It is with immense sadness that Members are advised that Neville Dhu passed away in the early hours of Thursday 30th December.”

“His contribution to the Club has been immense – a quiet but dedicated worker whose cheery disposition and willingness to help will be missed.“

I didn’t know ‘Nifty Nev’ well enough to call him a friend, and it felt like getting a word out of a reverent man like Nev was akin to squeezing water out of a stone, but I can say definitely that Nev will always feature in a major chapter of my relatively short life, because I played my first game of Thursday Pennants bowls alongside him (plus Ron and Kim) against Belmont back on October 28.

Of course, given I was involved, we lost the game.

That trip to Belmont wound up being the only game I got to play with Neville for the Eagles, although we did have a few other encounters on Thursdays, like driving to Mount Pleasant with Half Price not even 6 weeks ago, which typically ended in disappointment as we all wound up losing our rinks (Nev played with Pricey), and Manning lost the aggregate by a grand total of 3 bloody shots.

Unfortunately, Nev’s health (Which had been pretty good) suddenly fell off the proverbial cliff to start December, when he was taken to hospital at approximately the same time the 5th Division team scored the upset win against unbeaten Rossmoyne (December 9th), then the last update we got just before our last game of 2021 (On December 16) from our VP Steve Salamon (via his partner Margie) was that Nev had an operation, and after that there was nothing for a fortnight, and the next thing we know, on the morning of New Years Eve, Nev had been promoted to glory.

A pretty sad and sudden turn of events all told, and to state the obvious, we’re much the poorer without him down at Manning Memorial.

I should note that Perth Metro Thursday Pennants is resuming on Thursday, with the Manning 5th Division team playing at home against Thornlie, so I’ll make sure the 5th Division mob don’t forget one of our own: