POLOCROSSE: Southern Downs local Cameron Shepherd has been named as the Queensland Polocrosse team captain ahead of the 2016 national tournament in Albury.

Shepherd said he was happy to be named captain and hoped to give the team a confidence boost for the finals.

"I was definitely excited by the announcement," he said.

"We've got a very good team of fellas - it's the same team that went to Darwin last time and they're a good team and a good group of people.

"There's nothing in particular I hope to bring to the table apart from installing plenty of confidence in the players.

"That's what I believe in - making sure they're confident to go into the finals and that they believe in themselves."

A longtime representative of the Sunshine State, Shepherd has played polocrosse for Queensland since 1999.

"I started playing polocrosse in 1985," he said.

"Basically, I was born and bred in Warwick and all my family played.

"I did spend 10 years in New South Wales playing when I was younger but I started playing for Queensland after I came back home in 1998.

"Being a Warwick person I'm being biased but we've got the premier spot in the country to play our game here."

The Warwick player said Queensland was shaping up well to take on the competition next year.

"The Queensland Polocrosse team in particular has tried to emphasise improving our quality of horses and just trying to match the quality of New South Wales," Shepherd said.

"It is helpful that Queensland is such a big state and we have a good diversity of players."

Shepherd said he was looking forward to preparing for the April nationals event when the season starts next year.

"We're in our off season now and our horses will come in early January," he said.

"The event is in early April so we'll start practicing by February, and we'll have some state practices and two or three actual carnivals before going to Albury.

"We'll likely put in a little bit more preparation with a more intensity."