Polo: Tough ask for hosts Hawke's Bay Salsa

FAMILY AFFAIR: Hawke's Bay polo player George Wood and daughter Emily who will be playing in an exhibition game for Iona College tomorrow. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Otane-based polo player George Wood once played against Prince Charles.

He also fixed his "sticks" but you won't hear him bragging about it, particularly last night when he had to plot a recovery mission for the Hawke's Bay Salsa team at the Dewar Cup tournament in Hastings. The host team lost 4-3 to Poverty Bay in their opening game at Elwood Park yesterday.

"Too many silly fouls in the last chukka let us down," the 56-year-old No 1 lamented.

"But as the best loser we get another chance tomorrow and if we win we will be in the final."

It will be a tough assignment for the hosts today. They will take on top seeds Rangitikei A who are chasing a third consecutive taste of Dewar Cup glory in the Hawke's Bay Open.

Wood started playing polo as a 12-year-old. Before a spell of almost 20 years from playing he had 28 summers in a row spending New Zealand winters overseas playing in Malaysia, Singapore and Ghana.

"My last Dewar Cup final was 25 years ago when we had 23-goal teams playing. Those were the days when it was the social event of Hawke's Bay and we played in front of a huge crowd over at the Hawke's Bay Showgrounds.

"You will never see 23-goal teams again but we can still bring it back to that level. It can still be a great social event on the $1.3 million grounds we have here," Wood said.

For Wood this weekend's tournament will be a real family affair. His son Monty is playing in the Wood Mallets team in the Nelson Cup (low goal) section and they open their campaign with a game against East Coast today.

Wood's 14-year-old daughter Emily will be one of nine Iona College students who will play in an exhibition chukka as a curtainraiser to tomorrow's final. She said the squad has been training every Wednesday and has been fortunate to receive coaching from her father as well as the Birchleigh club kingpin Richard Kettle.

In yesterday's other Dewar Cup fixture Rangitikei B beat Opiango Hills, a composite Hawke's Bay-Wanstead team, 6-4. Two-goaler and No 3 Mark Duncan and one-goaler and No 4 Nathan Schimanski were prominent for Rangitikei B while No 4 and three-goaler Aaron Vowles was the pick of the Opiango Hills team according to Hawke's Bay Polo Club stalwart Richard Hunt.

Five teams are playing in the Dewar Cup section, four in the McKenzie Cup section and six in the Nelson Cup (low goal) section.