COVERAGE SPONSORED BY BARASTOC
By HARRY CLARKE
WARWICK’S renowned polocrosse grounds will be in full flight by Friday as the annual Barastoc Interstate Series and Shell Cup Carnival combines with the long awaited Adina Anzac Test Series between Australia and New Zealand.
The Trans-Tasman contest will be the first international polocrosse played in Australia since the pandemic began, and the first since Australia won the Adina Polocrosse World Cup at Warwick in 2019.
Morgan Park, the Warwick grounds regarded as Australia’s finest polocrosse facility, will host roughly 700 horses and players, and well over 100 games throughout the three day carnival.
The Adina Anzac Test Series will feature three games between Australia and New Zealand (Friday 6pm, Saturday 6pm and Sunday 11am).
The Barastoc Interstate Series will feature the best teams from each Australian state bar South Australia, while the Shell Cup Carnival will crown the country’s best local club across several divisions.
Warwick Polocrosse Club president Les Fraser said the scene was set at Morgan Park for an action packed weekend, thanks to a mammoth effort in logistics by the team of organisers.
“It’s wonderful to be able to get our international polocrosse up and going again,” Fraser said.
“This will be the biggest event we’ve had here since the 2019 World Cup and we’re really looking forward to it.
“The game is going very well at an international level. Obviously our closest overseas team is New Zealand and they’re very strong.”
COVERAGE SPONSORED BY BARASTOC
Polocrosse is celebrated as the ‘King of the One Horse Sports’ and the quality of the animals plays a huge part in a team’s ability.
To ensure fairness in providing visiting overseas players with quality horses, organisers divide Australia’s best horses into pools and teams then select a pool for each game.
“So the Australian player might not get to play on his own horse,” Fraser said.
“It’s a very fair and equitable way of doing it. It was introduced at the first World Cup here in 2003 and has been fine tuned by our officials since then.”
The grand finals of year’s Barastoc Interstate Series was akin to the State of Origin in both men’s and women’s divisions.
The Queensland women blitzed New South Wales while the men in blue overcame Queensland comfortably.
Country Caller coverage of the 2021 Barastoc Interstate Series
Fraser said the format of this weekend’s carnival would create a robust display of polocrosse, as an extensive representative competition would result in dramatic team changes at state and club levels.
“The international series gives a big chance for a lot of players to move up into the top echelon of the interstate series,” he said.
“Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria have all got men and women players out of their normal state sides and playing in the international series.
“That allows new players and younger players to come into the interstate competition.”
“We’ve taken club players in the Shell Cup Carnival to play the Barastoc Interstate Series, so again it allow club players who move up a grade.”
There are seven polocrosse fields at Morgan Park and this is the 14th time the Warwick Polocrosse Club will host the Barastoc Interstate Series.
The action will begin at 9am on Friday. The bar and spectator areas will be open to the public all weekend.
“It’s a big logistical effort getting everything together but we’ve been doing it here at Warwick for quite a number of years,” Fraser said.
“We’ve got a very strong club here with a lot of members, they’re all very capable and they run these big events very well.”
For more information visit Warwick Polocrosse Club’s official website and Facebook page.
COVERAGE SPONSORED BY BARASTOC
