Mooroopna Bowls Club coach Martin Fong details his journey from Fiji to the Fruit Salad City

That was a rather happy accident.

Mooroopna Bowls Club’s coach flew the Fijian flag at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, yet in another life, he could well have represented his nation at the blue-ribbon event in two other separate codes.

Fong, who hails from the village of Levuka, had sport coursing through the sinews that bound him from a young age.

Hell, he even sprinted for silver in the 100m at the World Youth Under-18 Championships.

But back then, a world of rinks, ends and jacks was scribble on a phone box wall: seen and ignored.

“My family is built around field hockey and rugby, so I grew up in a family that had a lot of sports going,” he said.

“I started very early in my sporting career; I represented Fiji in athletics and field hockey — 2007 is when I started my journey with lawn bowls.

“I had an injury that year for field hockey. We were playing the World Cup qualifiers and I ruptured my meniscus, so I couldn’t play.

“I decided to try something else and it just so happened we had barefoot bowls back in Fiji’s Business House and that’s where it took off.”

Fong’s relationship with lawn bowls back then was strictly casual.

Mostly because he, like many of his countrymen, thought of it as an “old man’s sport”.

It wasn’t until Perth native Rod Revell — and his curious eye for a diamond in the rough — sparkled at the sight of Fong.

“He’s the one who came up to me and said ‘hey Marty, I’ve been watching you play and you’ve got a very natural delivery, very competitive, how about you think about taking the sport up seriously?’,” he said.

“I said ‘no’ — the mentality back then was that it was an old person’s sport, especially in Fiji.

“He said ‘it’s not an old person’s sport, it’s very mental and I think you have the capability to try it out, so I said why not?’.”

Revell’s faith in Fong wasn’t strictly verbal.

Nor was it ignored.

The generous benefactor bought Fong his first bowls uniform, shoes, tape measure and, of course, a shiny new set of Taylor Redline SRs — which he still owns today.

Revell trained Fong throughout 2007-08, but competition remained strictly social for the Levuka-raised talent and, when 2009 rolled around, field hockey became Fong’s prerogative as he made the national team once more.

It wasn’t until 2011 that Fong tried out and was named in another Fijian national squad: bowls.

He made the grade for the 2012 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Adelaide, launching a decade-long affiliation with the Fiji National Bowls Team that culminated in “the big one”.

Commonwealth Games were on and Fong was in.

Mooroopna’s latest mentor competed in two events; the men's triples and fours, and he came within a whisker of a podium spot as he bowed out in the bronze medal playoff in the former category.

Yes, Fong left the Games empty handed — but not empty minded, that’s for sure.

“I think the Commonwealth Games is pretty much the pinnacle of any lawn bowler’s career because that is the highest level, I believe,” he said.

“Just to be there rubbing shoulders against these types of bowlers that are very capable, for me, despite being in the national team for so long, it was an eye-opener.

“The competition level is very different. Back when I started I thought it was an old person’s sport, but it’s absolutely not.

“Lawn bowls is more mental and that’s something that our coach instilled in us playing for Fiji: mental toughness.”

Close to 29 million sets of eyes watched the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

A hundred or less are trained on Mooroopna’s greens each week.

Yet, Fong’s ethos has remained the same.

Amid the silent wrist flicks and muted clinks, focus is a cornerstone of the game and Fong has been hammering it home ever since he stepped foot in the Fruit Salad City.

“That’s one thing I try and instil too here at Mooroopna, the mental capacity of an individual will determine how good they are,” he said.

“It’s very hard to have new players and try and get them to gel together all of a sudden; I think it’s a process we have in place that we just need to follow and just trust the process at the moment.

“As I said to the players, Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

At the midway point of the Goulburn Valley Playing Area season, Mooroopna’s division one side sits bottom, while its third division outfit lands on top.

Fong has all the bricks and mortar to build a winning combination — but that takes time, and he knows it.

Will it be easy? No.

Will he back down? Also no.

“I knew what I was signing up for, I knew it was going to be a challenge to get the players together and mould them into a team,” he said.

“A personal goal for me is to change the culture of the club in terms of being more family-oriented and I think that seems to be working for us.

“More families are involved and we have families coming down to support the club more.

“Another goal I set was never about winning the flag for div one, it was trying to provide assistance for bowlers who need assistance within the club.

“A realistic goal for the club is seeing if we can finish in the top four and for our div three, to win the flag and come up to div two.”

Finally, Fong wished to thank his wife and kids for their support and encouragement, while also expressing gratitude to Mooroopna Bowls Club for trusting him to take the reins.