Gisborne players on the big stage

New Zealand international polo player Guy Kirkpatrick earns a living in the sport he loves. Picture supplied

Two Gisborne polo players will be in international action in Australia this weekend.

Guy Kirkpatrick has been named in the New Zealand team to play Australia at Windsor Polo Club, Richmond, near Sydney, on Saturday.

Susie Hamilton was last week named in the women’s team to play Australia, also on Saturday.

Kirkpatrick, 43, has been based in the New South Wales polo stronghold of Ellerston, near Scone in the Upper Hunter region, for nearly seven years.

His primary occupation is polo — playing, or training horses for polo — and he has lived the sporting dream since he was 18, his mother Caroline says.

Kirkpatrick has polo in the blood. His father Colin and uncles David and John were multiple Savile Cup winners with Poverty Bay, and Colin and David played for New Zealand. Another uncle, Ian, was a regular commentator at the Bushmere polo grounds when he stopped playing for the All Blacks.

Guy Kirkpatrick has travelled the world in his job. Seven years in the United Kingdom, a year in South Africa, nine years in Queensland and his time in New South Wales at Ellerston have earned him the description “experienced”.

Five-goaler Kirkpatrick has been a member of winning teams at the New Zealand Open. He has represented New Zealand and played at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show, where three-a-side polo has been a feature since 1939.

He and his Waikura Valley-raised wife Cathy (nee O’Brien) return to Gisborne when they can, and Guy can still be counted on to cause a stir at the Bushmere polo grounds when he appears.

The New Zealand teams for Saturday’s tests against Australia are —

Men: 1 Guy Kirkpatrick 5g, 2 Kit Brooks 5g, 3 Tom Hunt 6g, 4 Sam Hopkinson 6g.

Women: Missy Browne 5g, Georgia Burrows 3g, Laura Harris Malone 3g, Susie Hamilton 3g, Harriet McKelvie 3g.