11 FEBRUARY 2004.
Darts - Aussies like to get to the point

By David Ogilvie
DARTS: There’s nothing like a dart in one hand and a beer in the other for Brisbane truckdriver Frank Mathers when he’s on holiday.
The reason? As a truckdriver, he gets little time for anything other than hours and hours behind the wheel on Australia’s long, straight roads – and some sleep. So, come holiday time, darts takes over.
Mathers and friend Marjorie Williams thus have become regular visitors to Wanganui for New Zealand Masters Games darts events. In fact Marjorie’s club shirt hangs on the Wanganui Darts League wall after she donated it in 2001. Her first visit  was in 1997.
As for Frank Mathers, he started his visiting way back in 1995 when he bought a line-dancing group to Wanganui and played in the darts as well at the Games.
" Line dancing was what the girls were into then (1995). We had three teams come across and 29 of us made a tour of New Zealand. But the girls don’t come across any more," Mathers said.
So it’s all darts now for him, in Wanganui and Dunedin Masters.
" I’ve always used these trips as a holiday. I drive a truck five, six, seven days a week. You knock off, switch the key off, and you can come over here – you drink, have a good time and throw darts.
" Then you go back, and you can’t drink anymore."
Williams started her Wanganui visits three Games ago, although in 2003 she never threw a dart after breaking an arm when she slipped in the shower before competition started.
Williams has a developing glaucoma eye problem which means her sight is deteriorating, and she wears a VIP (visually impaired person) badge. But she’s cheerful about it and says Mathers is "my seeing-eye dog."
She has sight straight on to the board at this point.
" But if anyone’s standing either side of that I’m in trouble. I’ve already walked into two people today. I’m getting at the stage now of having to ask the scorer (what I hit) occasionally."
Results are secondary. By the time we spoke, the pair had lost their four matches after taking the first by default.
" We won the first game because the opposition never turned up," Mathers said.
" It takes me a while to warm-up," Williams said. "I’ll be much better later in the week."
The mixed pairs were played yesterday, followed by the fours today, the men’s and women’s pairs tomorrow and the singles on Sunday.