Congratulations to the Australian World Cup squad team who led all the way in the Range Rover 2011 International Test at Windsor last Sunday 27th March. The final score was 11-5. The team was: 1. Zac Hagedoorn, 2. Ed Goold, 3. Matt Grimes (captain), 4. Alec White and reserve Jock Mackay. MVP: Zac Hagedoorn, Champion pony was 'Sumatra' owned by Ellerston and played by Matt Grimes, the pony 'Cocaine' played by Gary Vickers and owned by John Marshall was judged as the best pony lent to the visitors.
The Australian Colts fought hard but were defeated by the Kiwis, 7-4. They were: Scott Tonkin 1, Richard Curran 0, Jasper White, captain, 2 and Bingham Fitz-Henry 1. MVP: James Wood, NZ.

Congratulations and Thank You to all involved
The Test day itself was a triumph. It was the culmination of many months of planning and hard work by many people. On behalf of Ian McDuie, NSWPA President, a massive thank you to all at Windsor Polo Club, all horse lenders and all of you who worked on the day or in the lead up; it is sincerely appreciated.


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Updated AUSTRALIAN TEAM CONFIRMED 22nd March 2011: Having originally been unavailable due to other commitments, 5 goal polo player Matt Grimes has been able to re-schedule and has made himself available to play for Australia in the World Cup clash against New Zealand this weekend.
One of the form players at the Ellerston Club during their annual Autumn series, where he captained the Stella Artois team to a win in the subsidiary 14 goal final, Grimes comes into the 14 goal Australian side with a great team of horses to challenge the Kiwis.
Also nominated as captain he will play in the number 3 position with another of the form players out of Ellerston, 20 year old Alec White, promoted to the senior team from the national colts, taking up the no 4 position in defence.

Young Western Australian star Zac Hagedoorn will take up the attacking number 1 forward position and Queensland’s Ed Goold will play number 2. The reserve is Jock Mackay from NSW, who can cover a number of positions.



New Zealand Team Announced 3rd March 2011 - see below for details

Spectator Details for Sunday, 27 March 2011

9.00am Gates Open
11.30am Introductions
11.45am Colts Game
2.00pm Introductions
2.15pm The Range Rover 'Australia v New Zealand' International Polo Test

General Admission: Adults $20 (includes free parking). Senior Card Holders $10. Children under 16 free.
Car boot parking spaces (front row of the side line) can be booked by contacting Helen Thom on email helen.thom@ruralpress.com or phone 02 4570 4611. Spaces are $100 which includes entry for vehicle and 2 adults. Additional adults $20. Children under 16 free of charge.

Location
The Windsor Polo Club Grounds are located west of Richmond in the Hawkesbury Valley of NSW, about one hour north-west of Sydney. This scenic region, at the foot of the Blue Mountains, is one of the oldest agricultural regions in NSW and a traditional centre of polo in the State. Visitors are always welcome for polo matches.

To reach the grounds from Sydney, either:

•Leave the city via the M2 Motorway and Windsor Road. Turn left as you reach Windsor and drive to Richmond. At the turn to Kurrajong, continue along Windsor St and Old Kurrajong Road.;
•take the M7 Motorway to Blacktown and follow Richmond Road to Richmond. Turn right at Market St, Richmond and left into Windsor St and Old Kurrajong Road.
Entry to the Grounds is from Old Kurrajong Rd.

AUSTRALIAN SQUAD PLAYERS SELECTED:
At the International Polo Test Match you will see a team selected from the squad:
Dirk Gould 5, Kelvin Johnson 5, Ed Goold 4, Jock Mackay 4, Zac Hagedoorn 3, and Alec White 2. Captain TBA.

NEW ZEALAND 14 Goal TEAM:
Glen Armstrong 2g
Gary Vickers 4g
Angus McKelvie 5g
Simon McDonald 3g

Congratulations also to the Australian 4 goal Colts team selected:

1. Scott Tonkin
2. Richard Curran
3. Jasper White ©
4. Bingham Fitz-Henry

NZ COLTS ANNOUNCED:
Ben Brown 1g
William Hunt 1g
James Wood 2g
Ashley Reader 0g
Brad Beatson 0g

14 GOAL SQUAD PLAYER PROFILES

ALEC WHITE – 2 GOALS
Alec, 20, from Scone, has been playing polo for 4 years. His career highlights would include playing in the 14 and 16 goal tournaments at Ellerston, the Melbourne Cup polo tournament and representing Australia last month in the Colts Team that toured New Zealand. When not playing polo, he is a keen rugby player.

MATT GRIMES – 5 GOALS - Captain
Matt, 33 years old, from Queensland works at Ellerston Polo Club where he brings on young horses for the game. An experienced campaigner, he represented Australia in the last FIP World Cup in 2007 and counts playing in the SE Australia team versus England in 2005 as his most memorable game. He will captain Australia today.

JOCK MACKAY – 4 GOALS - reserve
Jock grew up on the family cattle farm in Dungog, New South Wales where he and his family breed and train polo ponies and thoroughbred race horses. He began riding at a very early age and played his first game of polo at the age of 10. Turning professional in 2002, he spends 5 months of the year in the UK and the other 7 months back in Australia. He has played in many countries including USA, France, Argentina and Pakistan, representing Australia on several occasions.

ED GOOLD – 4 GOALS
Ed Goold originally from Victoria but now living in Kooralbyn, a polo hotspot in Queensland. He is cousin to one of Australia’s highest rated players Jack Baillieu and his father was an Aussie Rules Football player, playing for Carlton he was in the Ron Barrassi team that won the premiership. His father was also a 6 goal polo player for Victoria; Ed inherited a passion for the game.
He started his polo in his teens and has gone on to play the world over including Aitken, South Carolina, and Santa Barbara. He has won tournaments in the South Island of New Zealand and the New Zealand Open. Playing achievements include winning the Kurland International Test Match in 2008 - playing alongside his cousin, and more recently the 14g & 16g at Ellerston in 2010. Ed is also involved in breeding and training Australian and New Zealand thoroughbred horses.

ZAC HAGEDOORN – 3 GOALS
Zac, 21, from Perth WA, is one of Australia’s fast rising stars of the game. He has only been playing for 5 years and is already on a 3 goal handicap. He has played in Australia, New Zealand and the UK with highlights being taking part in the Ellerston and Melbourne Cup tournaments. He would love to win at Ellerston one day. He is involved in horse breeding.

AUSTRALIAN COLTS PLAYER PROFILES

RICHARD CURRAN - Age 16 - 0g:
Richard is a student at The Kings School in Sydney. He has been playing polo for two years and plays with the Millamolong Club in Australia. In his short career Richard has won the Hector King and Garangula High goal twice. For the last two summers, Richard has spent his Christmas holidays playing polo with top New Zealand players Simon Keyte and John Paul Clarkin. He was in the Australian Colts team that toured New Zealand in February.

Outside of Polo, Richard is a keen footballer, playing both Rugby League and Rugby Union – usually at outside centre or wing. Richard’s family are famers in Canowindra NSW, where they also breed and train polo ponies for fun.

JASPER WHITE (captain) - Age 19 – 2g:
From Scone Jasper’s ambition is to play polo professionally and he’s right on track, currently employed at the Packer’s polo club Ellerston. He played in the Colts Match at Windsor in 2009 and 2010 and also the 14 goal Australian Summer Series in the Hawkesbury 2010. He was in the winning Australian Colts team that toured New Zealand in February and captains the Colts today.

BINGHAM FITZ-HENRY – Age 19 – 1g:
Bingham started playing at 14 at the Scone Junior Polo School. He has played in two seasons of 10 goal in Queensland including the Mercedes and the Ashling 10 goal. Also the Barr Smith in Adelaide and the Ellerston 4 goal.
Currently Bingham is at university physiology and playing polo when he can find time. Once he’s finished his degree he aims to play above 5 goals one day and travel overseas with polo.
Like many polo players, Bingham is an all-round sportsman. Prior to starting polo, he was playing tennis in national titles. He has an appreciation for all sports and the sporting mind hence his study of physiology majoring in nutrition and sports psychology. Bingham’s family now live in Queensland where they run the business F-H polo, leasing horses and playing professionally.

SCOTT TONKIN – Age 18, 1 goal
Scott from South Australia has been playing polo since aged 11 on the family horse and cattle property in the Adelaide Hills. He has had tuition from some of Australia’s top coaches including Andrew Williams, Glen Gilmore and Rob Ballard as well as Argentine players. Already this year he has been in a string of winning teams in South Australian tournaments. He has been voted Adelaide Polo Club’s best junior/most valuable player three times. Definitely a name to watch for the future.

NEW ZEALAND PLAYER PROFILES: 14 GOAL TEAM
Angus McKelvie
Angus is 30 years old and the team’s highest rated player on 5 goals. He is a professional polo player who plays mainly in England. He has been selected in the initial New Zealand FIP team for Malaysia in June.

Gary Vickers
Gary is from Cambridge and has been playing for about 15 years. He has played in Australia, England and India. He enjoys making horses with his wife and polo player Missy Browne (who also represented New Zealand in the Riverlands Ladies International Tournament last year) and their son Zane who is 10 has also just started to play.

Simon McDonald
Simon, 38, is married to Lisa with 2 daughters and a third on the way. He is a farmer and livestock agent. He started playing polo at the age of 21 and now plays at the Wanstead Polo Club in Central Hawkes Bay. Simon played polo in the 90s in Australia where he worked for well-known Australian players Richard Maple-Brown, Robert Doolin, Earl Herbert and the late James Ashton.

He has played 1 previous test for New Zealand in 2005 against Zambia which New Zealand won. He has played in all major New Zealand tournaments and enjoys seeing his club members succeeding at various levels. His biggest thrill in polo is to develop young horses and be able to play them well at a high level and ultimately receive pony prizes.

Glen Armstrong
Glen, 25, grew up in Gisborne on the East Coast of the North Island, learning to ride on the farm. He began playing polo at 14 with the Poverty Bay Polo Club. Now on 2 goals he is a strong up and coming player for New Zealand. In the last few years, Glen has worked in New Zealand and Australia for experienced players, training and playing young horses and well as completing a degree in Applied Science.

Currently he plays for the Wanstead Polo Club in Central Hawkes Bay and travels to England in the off season where he plays at Tidworth Polo Club.


NEW ZEALAND COLTS PLAYER PROFILES

Ben Brown – age 19 – 1 goal

Ben started playing in Zimbabwe then moved to New Zealand where he’s played for the last 8 years. He has played in the USA and UK with Christ College’s touring team and has played for the South Island Colts team for 3 years. He’s no stranger to the Windsor Polo Club as currently he is working with the Marshall family at Kurri Burri Polo Club here in Richmond.

Ash Reader – age 18 – 0 goals
Ash has been playing for 4 years. He started playing polo at Waireka through the Inter-schools polo. This year he is playing polo in the North Island at Kihikihi. When he’s not playing polo, he spends the winter working on the family fishing boat.

James (Jimmy) Wood – age 19 – 2 goals
James is from the Christchurch Polo Club in the South Island and, like Ash, started his polo in the South Island's Inter-schools competition. In 2009 he toured the UK with his school team, Christ’s College, playing against all the leading UK school teams.

He spent the first 4 months of last year in Argentina learning more about polo from Mito Goti at Cornel Suarez and then the English Summer from May to September working for 7 goaler Gaston Laulhe based at Coworth Park, Ascot, England.

This season he has played for the Christchurch Club and has recently spent 6 weeks in the North Island based with John-Paul Clarkin and Simon Keyte. James was a member of the winning Veuve Clicquot/Garangula team that won the New Zealand Open played last month in Auckland.

Will Hunt – age 18 – 1 goal
Will was born in Cootamundra, NSW and quickly followed in the family tradition starting to play polo at the Millamolong Polo Club when he was just 8 years old. In the past he has represented NSW along with his brothers Sam and Tom. Now living in New Zealand, Will was plagued by injury last year to his shoulder, then a major injury to his foot following a fall in Queensland which has taken some months and a couple of surgeries to recover from. Will made his comeback to polo in the New Year and played for the NZ Colts against Australia in February.

MEDIA RELEASE: Australian World Cup Polo Campaign Begins

With our national reputation for success in all things to do with horses, the World Cup in polo is one competition that Australia is yet to win.

Having been runners-up to Brazil when the World Cup was held in Melbourne in 2001, in the last two competitions, Australia made the finals in France in 2004 but not in Mexico in 2008, so a concerted effort is being made this year to qualify in the Zone Play-offs in Malaysia in June and go to the Final series in Argentina in October.

The first major hit-out for the Australian World Cup Squad will come on Sunday 27th March when with the Range Rover Australia v New Zealand International Polo Test at Richmond, an hour north west of Sydney, on the grounds of the Windsor Polo Club.

This prestigious sporting and social event is expected to attract approx 3000 spectators. Contributing to the success of the day are key sponsors: Range Rover, JB Were Goldman Sachs, Stella Artois, Strand Arcade, La Martina, The Classic Safari Company and the (sydney) magazine.

Competition for places in the Squad is hotting up and some indication will come from the Australian team competing in the International 3 a-side Snow Polo Championships in China in February, with the World Cup Squad to be announced around the same time.

Form at the March International will have a big bearing on who travels to Malaysia in June for Asian - Australasian – African Zone championship to be contested by World Cup teams from Australia, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa and Malaysia. Only the top 2 teams from these play-offs will go on to the finals in Argentina, to play against the winners from the 3 other World Zones, plus the host nation and current World champions, Chile.

Polo is the Oceana & Asian region is growing rapidly and having the opportunity to ultimately play in the World Cup in Buenos Aires, the home of polo globally would be quite an achievement for Australia against what promises to be strong competition..

The Australian Squad will be training and playing at James Packer’s Ellerston facility leading up to the March 27th International which gets under way at Windsor Polo Club at 11 am.. This a very pretty setting with plenty of parking and other entertainment during the day with food and refreshments available at the Clubhouse, although many people prefer to bring a picnic lunch and and eat out on the shaded spectator banks.

For details contact the NSW Polo Association on 02 9388 9593, email nsw@australianpolo.com.au