Team Mouat will make their long-awaited bid to complete a hat-trick of wins in the men’s event at the Perth Masters this week (Jan 4-8) when the event returns to the schedule after a two-year hiatus.
2022 Olympic finalists Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan looked to be returning to their best form towards the end of the year and, in particular, its last month reflected the major successes enjoyed by their second, as they reached the final of another major event at a Grand Slam event in Canada, before he claimed a mixed doubles title. 
As well as claiming that Olympic silver medal, Lammie - whose broken hand contributed to the team’s uncharacteristically slow start to the 2022/23 campaign - had become world champion in mixed doubles earlier in the year, so his Euro Super Series victory with new partner Hailey Duff in their last competition served notice of his intent to remain competitive on two fronts.
“Obviously it was a very strong finish to the end of 2022 for myself and my mixed doubles partner Hailey and our team with some strong performances at Europeans and the Slam and obviously winning the Mixed Doubles Competition, so hopefully we can kick on into the 2023 calendar year now,” said Lammie.
“It is getting to the business part of the curling season now and the Scottish Champs and a few Worlds coming up as well so we definitely need to put the foot down now and bring our best curling to this part of the season. We are in a very good spot to do that.”
They begin the year at the scene of a succession of previous triumphs since, as well as those previous Perth Masters successes, they won a successive hat-trick of Scottish Championships between 2018 and 2020 on the same Dewar’s Centre ice.
“We are definitely looking forward to getting back to the Perth Masters,” said Lammie.
“We have won the last two times we have played at that competition and also the previous couple of times we have played at the Scottish.
“We like the ice and venue there – it suits us and we hope to complete the hat-trick there and kick start the new year with a good one.”
They find themselves in among a field that has a strong international element as well as domestic rivals, including the other Scottish quartet, Ross Whyte, Robin Brydone, Duncan McFadzean and Euan Kyle, who confirmed their place in the world’s top 10 with tournament victories on both sides of the Atlantic in the first half of the season.
“The end of 2022 was kind to us and we look forward to bringing those performances into 2023,” said their skip Ross Whyte.
“We are excited to get going at the Perth Masters this week as we always love competing in this event.
“A home event that our families can get to is always exciting as it’s not easy for our families to get to see us curl much anymore.
“The Masters field looks great as always and we can’t wait to compete against some great teams again this week. 
“A strong start to 2023 will hopefully allow for us to push on and put in a good performance at our Scottish championships.”
Kyle Waddell, who led the winning team at last year’s Scottish Championships, is another who is looking to build on what he has learned in the first half of the season as he and brother Craig prepare to defend that national title with a re-vamped line-up this season.
“The Perth Masters is always a good event and it feels like a long time since we competed to be honest so it will be good to get going again,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to the Scottish Championships as I do every year and it is a bit more special playing in a national championship this time as a defending champion with a different team, but the goal will be what it always is to be which is to perform our best and make the play-offs and who knows what can happen from there.
“The Perth Masters will be a good preparation for that because we have a few Scottish teams in our group.”
Those include his 2018 Olympic teammates Glen and Thomas Muirhead with whom there will be a reunion in the opening round of matches.
“We are meeting Glen (Muirhead) in the first game and obviously we know him pretty well and I played with Tom for a number of years so it will be good to play against them.
“I am sure they will bring their A game given this is at the home ice rink so I am sure it will be a good game but to be honest I am happy to see some non funded teams playing in a Tour event in Scotland as there are not too many of them to play at these days unfortunately, so it will be good to see them again.”
As well as working with new teammates Mark Taylor and Gavin Barr, Waddell is looking to gain from the experience of becoming a European champion after he travelled to Sweden to help Team Mouat win that title for the third time in November. 
“It was my first time being fifth player and the boys played pretty well throughout the week, then obviously in the final we all saw what happened with Grant making a couple of beauties later on in the game and Bruce playing two very, very good shots to win so I was pleased for them and it was a good experience seeing it from a different perspective,” he said.
“In terms of what I took from it and passed on to my own team obviously as the fifth player you are watching a lot of curling, so you are taking a lot from all the teams not just Team Mouat, so I learned a few things and took a few things away from it and some ideas, It was a good week and I enjoyed being part of that and being part of that success.”
The Scottish contingent also includes teams led by current world junior champion James Craik, former Scottish and World champion Ewan MacDonald and Cammy Bryce, while there is representation from Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, Norway and Switzerland.
Please click here for the draw and more information from the Perth Masters.
Images: Team GB/David Pearce, Roland Beck, PPA Graeme Hart.
