IOR RoseBowl Carnival to light up Warwick Polocrosse Club in massive weekend of sport

At least 30 teams are ready to hit the field at the annual Warwick Polocrosse Club meet, with the country derby setting the stage for next month’s club championships.

Matt Hardy in possession for the Warwick 1 mixed team in a game against Tara at the Cunningham Polocrosse Club carnival. Photo Gerard Walsh / Warwick Daily News

The Warwick Polocrosse Club is bringing back an annual favourite this weekend, overcoming Covid challenges to bring at least 30 teams from across the state to the Rose City for an epic showdown.

The IOR RoseBowl Carnival will produce a massive two days of competition at the Warwick club’s Morgan Park grounds, featuring a day and night program on Saturday and finals on Sunday.

Following on from the success of the Barastoc Interstate Series and Shell Cup Carnival, club president Les Fraser said the carnival would make for an exciting weekend of sport despite smaller numbers under Covid restrictions. 

“At this particular stage, any of our players east of the Great Dividing Range can’t compete, (but) they can attend as spectators,” Fraser said.

“We’ll still get a good number of teams. We’ve got teams from as far west as Tambo, as far north as Rockhampton, and all the southeast corner.

“I’m expecting we might get 40 teams, which is down on our usual numbers because NSW are locked out as well.”

The carnival will include both men’s and women’s competitions, which will set the stage for the Queensland State Club Polocrosse Championships at Wandoan in September.

Fraser said despite some Warwick players likely to be locked out of this weekend’s carnival due to the Covid travel ban, it was sure to be an action-packed few days of sport.

“There’ll be some great polocrosse, particularly our night program under the lights which commences at 6pm Saturday,” he said.

“It’ll be excellent tourism, and the town is looking for anything that can boost numbers.

“We’re very fortunate to be able to compete at all – we’ve got a lot of sports that have been shut down completely, so we’re very lucky we can compete in some way.”

Gates open at the Warwick Polocrosse Club at 8am Saturday, with the bar and canteen to be open throughout the program.

Entry is free for spectators from 4pm on Saturday, otherwise pay at the gate on the day.

Originally published as IOR RoseBowl Carnival to light up Warwick Polocrosse Club in massive weekend of sport