Pittwater LIfe December 2019 Issue

making
said.
But someone in the club twisted his
arm and he decided to nominate.
Luka clinched his selection with
some impressive performances at the
Branch selection carnival at Newport.
“It means I will miss the 20 Beaches
as it is on at the same time as Interbranch,”
he said. “Don’t get me wrong –
I am really pumped to be representing
the Branch.”
Luka said there were times when he
was feeling down.
“Yeah, certain stages when I was less
motivated. But Marty and Bryce were
really good with me,” he said. “They
lifted me up when things weren’t going
well... they were always there for me,
making sure I was working hard at
most training sessions.”
Luka has moved into his first season
as an under-17s competitor.
“It’s great to see both of us finally
make it. We’ve been competing since
under-6s,” he said.
Mona Vale’s third representative
is Zach Wasley, making his debut in
under-12s.
“This was one of his goals and he
just loves the sport,” proud dad Michael
tells us. “He prefers the board but has
SELECTED:
Zach Wasley.
worked hard on his swimming.”
The Monnocks are not the only
siblings in the Branch team. Newport
have the Morris brothers (Zach and
twins Jake and Mitch), the Doyle sisters
(Emily and twins Kimberley and Katelynn)
and the Maggs brothers (Conner
and Noah).
Josh Kerr, Brandon Bartlem, Isaac
Smith, Blake Drysdale, Maddie Spencer
and Alex Lefevre are other Newport
representatives.
SNB will be attempting to win a third
title in a row.
– John Taylor
Book Review
PEACE
Garry Disher
Text Publishing
$29.99
One of author
Garry Disher’s
specialties is Rural
noir – combining the
isolation of rural Australia with oldfashioned
murders to create thrillers.
Paul Hirschhausen is the only police officer
in a small town of the South Australian
wheatfields. He spends his time trying to
keep the peace amongst usually well-behaved
locals. However, his reverie is interrupted by
the murder of a newly arrived resident and
then the slaughter of horses – are the crimes
connected? When police from Sydney turn up,
he knows it’s going to be a long day.
The beauty of this book is that the
mundane nature of his everyday job, is just
as fascinating as the crescendo of solving the
murders. Disher draws a vivid picture of rural
life while throwing in the spiciness of a good
murder mystery.
Peace is one of Beachside’s picks of 2019; as
an interesting sidenote, without giving away
the plot, the perpetrators in the story went to
Barrenjoey High! – Michael Armstrong
News
The Local Voice Since 1991
DECEMBER 2019 19