Saturday March 1 2008

Golden Shears Won

THE cream rose to the top at the world’s greatest shearing contest tonight, Golden Shears 2008, with the performance of a lifetime from gun kiwi shearer John Kirkpatrick.
Kirkpatrick, from the North Island’s Napier, raced to victory in the Golden Shears Open Championship in Masterton, New Zealand, which is regarded as the pinnacle of competitive shearing around the globe.
The unassuming 37-year old won the Golden Shears in 2002 and said he’s been back every year since to try and regain the title.
But the wait paid off. And doubly so.
As the Open winner Kirkpatrick now goes on to represent New Zealand at the World Shearing Championships in Norway in October.
“To win it a second time is just great, but most of all to be a team member to Norway, that is probably the biggest thing,” he said.
“I’m glad I held off to now.”
Event commentator Koro Mullins told a full house at Masterton’s Memorial Stadium that the event was the highlight of the shearing year in what is a hard industry.
“They sometimes say this is the hardest, dirtiest, smelliest industry there is but here to night we get our chance to glorify it.”
Kirkpatrick did just that in the championship against 15-times Shears winner David Fagan as well as past-winner Dion King and reigning champ Paul Avery along with Scotsman Gavin Mutch and gun Dean Ball.
Fagan was first finished on sheep one but it soon became apparent Kirkpatrick was having the shear to end all shears.
King was close on his heels though on sheep eight but Kirkpatrick was still ahead at the halfway mark.
Shearing his heart out, Kirkpatrick well and truly pulled away from the pack by the 15th sheep and was soon an animal ahead of Fagan.
The stadium noise rose to fever pitch as Kirkpatrick swung into the long blow on the 20th and final sheep and roared as he shot it through the shute at 15 minutes and 35 seconds finished.
King was next half a minute later followed by Avery, then Fagan, Ball and Mutch.
The quality judging more or less confirmed the finish with Kirkpatrick in the top spot and Avery in second, which was no mean feat considering he’d shorn in the Trans-Tasman test for New Zealand earlier in the night.
King was in third followed by Fagan then Mutch and Ball.
Golden Shears spokesman Greg Herrick was rapt at the conclusion of a successful three-day competition and congratulated Kirkpatrick on his effort.
“This is the night that John Kirkpatrick has been fighting for since 2002. He got close before but this time he’s finally there again,” he said.
“This was the biggest Golden Shears of the last 10 years and it just keeps getting better.”
The Golden Shears ran from Thursday February 28 to Saturday March 1 and saw competitors from New Zealand, Norway, Australia, the UK, Ireland and South Africa battle for the top titles.
The iconic event celebrates it's 50th birthday in 2010 and is very much a fixture of the New Zealand rural calendar and closely linked to the national identity as a farming nation producing some of the world's finest wool.

Wairoa Shearing Family

WAIROA’S fast family of shearing at New Zealand’s greatest shearing contest this week, the Golden Shears 2008 in Masterton.
Bayne family members Lachie, 19, and Ingrid, 21, were close by to support their mum Maggie, centre, as she shore in the Senior Shearing Heats on Thursday.
The siblings then competed against one another in the Intermediate Shearing Event with Ingrid beating her brother in the semi-finals to shear a tough final against an otherwise all-male line-up today.
She finished sixth in the final but drew plenty of comments from the commentators for her style. “She’s a beautiful quality shearer down there,” they said.
Maggie and her husband Colin Baynes taught their children to shear and then caught the show bug as a family.
“I was taught as a child, at age 13, by my father, but he didn’t believe in shows so I never shore competitively,” she said.
“But when we taught all our children to shear and they started getting into it we thought we better set an example and started shearing in shows too.”
It was Maggie’s first Golden Shears but she did well with support from her children, both past shears competitors.
“The first time you’re all nervous because it’s like ‘it’s the Golden Shears!’,” said Ingrid. Maggie agreed and said the Golden Shears was a must for competition shearers.
“I always wanted to do it before I died…and I could have died up there!” she said, dog-tired after the five-sheep event.
Later on this year mother and daughter hope to set a precedent by doing a two-women, eight-hour lamb shear, which hasn’t been done before.
Maggie said her family’s shearing wouldn’t be what it was today without the encouragement of their mentor, gun shearer Bart Hadfield.
“Thanks goes to Bart for all the training and pushing us to do it. Without him we wouldn’t be here,” she said.

Local Boy Shines at Shears

LOCAL LAD Matene Mason shone at Golden Shears 2008 in Memorial Stadium, Masterton, today.
Mason, 15, placed second in the final of the Junior Shearing Champs for shearers who have recorded a shed tally of up to 210 sheep in a nine hour day.
He also picked up the trophy for the best junior local at the Golden Shears.
Dane Philips of Kaiwaka won the event and Southern man Chris McGregor from Gore was in third.
Tipene Te Whata from Tautoro, Raniera Hauiti of Danniverke and Bevan Guy from Kaeo followed in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

Kaiwaka Brothers Cleanup at Golden Shears

IT was the supreme double act from Kaiwaka’s lightening Henderson brothers at New Zealand’s premier shearing competition today, the Golden Shears 2008.
Tane and Toa took first and second place respectively in a hotly contested Senior Shearing Championship in Masterton’s Memorial Stadium.
The former Otamatea High School pupils were a class act, shearing with skill, speed and high quality against four others up under the bright lights of the competition stands.
Tane, 23, was a favourite after a good season in the lead up to the Shears. He won the Seniors at the Pahiatua Shears last Sunday after taking out the same event at the Apiti Shears the day before. He also won at five other shows earlier in the season.
Toa, 17, said he’d been shearing for three years but he kept close on the heels of his more experienced elder brother.
The pair shore against a strong field including Masterton’s Mark Buick shearing in his hometown, Maaka Rangiwa from Matatura, Te Kuiti’s James Ruki and Stewart Smith of Mataura.
The commentators had the Kaiwaka boys pegged right from the start.
“These Hendersons aren’t going to muck around, they’re putting the hammer down tonight,” said commentator Michael “Screamer” Maihi.
Ruki was first in to the pen for his first, second and then third sheep, closely followed by the Hendersons.
The situation was the same on the fifth sheep.
The Hendersons were a marvel of synchronicity on their sixth sheep, with two stands separating them, they tore down the final shoulder together.
“These more power in these guys than the hydro lakes,” called Screamer.
On the tenth and final sheep Ruki finished a split second before Tane who was quickly tailed to the buzzer by his brother.
Ruki had a quick easy style but it was no match for the Hendersons in quality when it came to the judging of their work.
Tane finished in first, Toa in second, followed by Rangiwai in third, Smith in fourth, Ruki in fifth and Buick in sixth.

Golden Shears Finalists Announced

THE top guns of Kiwi shearing are oiling their hand pieces tonight in the lead up to the world’s greatest shearing competition at New Zealand’s Golden Shears 2008.
Six of the best have qualified for the Open Shearing Championships at the Golden Shears in Masterton, an event that is regarded as the pinnacle of competitive shearing around the globe.
Past winners Paul Avery, Dion King and John Kirkpatrick, as well as 15-times Shears winner David Fagan, qualified for the event after a rigorous round of heats and semi-finals.
They are joined by fellow New Zealander Dean Ball and naturalised Kiwi, Scotsman Gavin Mutch. It is a class line up and in the know punters say the title could go anywhere.
Avery was the top qualifier followed by King, Kirkpatrick, Ball, Mutch and Fagan.
The Open Final is scheduled to begin at 10pm tonight and results should be posted within 30 minutes of the official announcement.

Friday February 28 2008

Hot Competition At Golden Shears

THE WEATHER is hot and so is the competition on day two of New Zealand’s toughest shearing contest, Golden Shears 2008.
Things are in full swing at Masterton’s War Memorial Stadium in drought-gripped Wairarapa as gun shearers from New Zealand and around the world via for victory in the Open event.
The Open title is regarded as the pinnacle of competitive shearing and this afternoon’s heats saw high-calibre performances from a field of 90-plus.
Semi-finalists will be announced tonight and an exciting final is anticipated for Saturday. The top echelon of Kiwi shearers are all looking likely, including 15-time Shears winner David Fagan, past winners Paul Avery, Dion King and John Kirkpatrick along with guns Dean Ball and Digger Balme.
The action continues tonight with the Trans-Tasman Woolhandling Test, following on a day of good results for local woolpressers.
Jo Ammundsen and Fiona Christensen of Masterton won the Womens Woolpressing Pairs in a well-fought final against fellow Masterton pressers Hinetawirirangi Biddle and Dana Hill. Christensen then bet Ammundsen in a closely contested final in the Womens Woolpressing Singles. Masterton’s Goodyer brothers then kept it in the family in the Mens Woolpressing Pairs and Singles finals.
Jeremy and Warwick Goodyer bet their brothers Vinnie and James in the Pairs and Jeremy aced Lee Paku, also of Masterton, in the Singles.
The 48th Golden Shears runs to Saturday March 1 and sees competitors from New Zealand, Norway, Australia, the UK, Ireland, and South Africa battle it out for the top titles.

Aussie Shearing Captain Warms Up For Test

AUSSIE Shearing Captain Jason Wingfield shows off his fast-fleecing skills at the world’s greatest shearing contest today.
Wingfield, 33, from near Ballarat in Victoria, didn’t make the final of the Golden Shears Open Shearing Event but goes head to head with a New Zealand shearing side in the Trans-Tasman shearing test tomorrow.
The Wallaby team also includes crack shearer and current Shearing World Champ Shannon Warnest along with Western Australian shearer Beau Guelfi.
Wingfield said his team was looking forward to the encounter.
“We always carry a bit of confidence in. Beating New Zealand on their home turf is a good challenge. It’s the old NZ/Australia rivalry. You don’t hold back, you give 110 percent.”
The shearers who compete in the test also have their work cut out for them if then competing in the finals of the Open.
“They shear the test and then they’ve got to go and shear 20 sheep in the final,” Wingfield said. It’s Wingfield’s fourth appearance in Masterton for the Australian team and he said the Golden Shears was the toughest shearing contest for individual shearers on the circuit.
“There is a lot more pressure here. It’s not the last one of the year but it’s the one to win.” He said the two-women Australian woolhandling team will also be looking for a win against the Kiwis in the Trans-Tasman Woolhandling Test tonight.
“It’s going to be pretty tough, they’ll have to be on the top of their game,” he said. The same Australian Team of shearers and woolhandlers will compete at the World Shearing Champs in Norway in October.

Shed Mates Go Head to Head at Shears

SHED MATES Jo Ammundsen (left) and Fiona Christensen go head to head at the 48th annual Golden Shears in Masterton today.
The Wairarapa pair worked together all season and teamed up to win the Women’s Woolpressing Pairs Event in a well-fought final against fellow Masterton pressers Hinetawirirangi Biddle and Dana Hill.
But when it came to the Women’s Woolpressing Single Finals they cranked the presses against one another.
“This is where the hard yards are done,” called the commentators.
“Back in the day they said that women couldn’t press wool…they said you needed a man with the big shoulders but just look at these ladies!”
Ammundsen was in the lead halfway through the final when she began to show signs of fatigue, breaking for a spell on the crank to sweep away some loose ends.
Reigning champ Christensen overtook her mate with a display of enormous speed and strength on that was very impressive.
The final ended with the competitors closing the bales almost in unison but with Christensen finished first in the end.
After judging she came first on the podium too, but said it wasn’t easy getting there. “Jo, that was my toughest final yet,” she said.
The local contingent also made a good showing in the Mens Woolpressing Pairs with Masterton brothers Jeremy, Warwick, Vinnie and James Goodyer pairing off in the final with Jeremy and Warwick in first place followed by their siblings in second.
Reigning Mens Woolpressing Singles champ Jeremy Goodyer then did it again, beating Lee Paku of Masterton to retain his title.

Ex-Shearer MP Parekura Horomia at Golden Shears

EX-SHEARER and Minster for Maori Affairs Parekura Horomia meets and greets the Golden Shears 2008 resident woolhandling team in Masterton tonight.
The MP shore an exhibition sheep at a past Golden Shears but spent his time this year catching up with the hard-working wool handlers who take care of the wool from the 4000 sheep shorn during the three-day competition.
To the immediate left of Mr Horomia is Golden Shears judge Mavis Mullins and to the right is a smiling Tangiora Paku of Masterton.
New Zealand First MP Ron Mark was also present at the second night of the world’s most respected shearing contest.

Kiwis Take Out Trans-Tasman Woolhandling Test

THE gloves came off and the fleece flew tonight in the Trans-Tasman Woolhandling Test at New Zealand’s top wool industry contest.
The Kiwi team of Jo Kumeroa and Hanatia Tipene met and bet Aussies Deb Chandler from Western Australia and Tasmania’s Mel Morris handling four Merino and four crossbred fleeces.
Commentator Audrey Tamanui-Nunn rated the Australian team’s chances at the outset.
“They’re bloody good and I wouldn’t take them too lightly just because they’re on New Zealand soil.”
“I spent a few hours with them in the shed and they’re good.”
She said the competitors needed to throw their fleeces squarely, flatly and evenly to avoid penalty points.
Both teams threw well but the Kiwis quickly gained an edge as the Australian throws landed with the odd side off the table.
Two-times World Champ Kumeroa had qualified earlier in the day for the Kiwi team heading to the 2008 World Champs in Norway later this year and she showed why.
Her calm presence and perfect throws complimented Tipene’s speed and young gun-energy.
Chandler and Morris were close behind though, working at lightening speeds to clean up their tabled fleeces.
But as the finish approached the Kiwis surged ahead and threw their final fleece while the Australians still had their eighth fleece on the shearing stand.
New Zealand’s speed was matched by the quality of their work and they were declared the winners. Meanwhile things are heating up in the Open Shearing Competition.
Regarded as the pinnacle of competitive shearing, the field of 90 was narrowed down to twelve after a Top 30 shear-off tonight.
Semi-finalists include shearing superhero and 15-times Golden Shears winner David Fagan from Te Kuiti, with past winners John Fitzpatrick of Napier, Paul Avery from Stratford and Napier’s Dion King.
The other semi-finalists are Havelock North’s Cam Ferguson, Dean Ball from Te Kuiti, Gavin Mutch of Stratford, Roleston’s Jason Win and Digger Balme of Te Kuiti.
As well as Nathan Stratford from Invercargill, Rakaia’s Tony Coster and Tony Devery from Tuatapere.

Thursday February 28 2008

Golden Shears Opening Morning

COMPETITION was fast and furious on opening morning of the world-famous Golden Shears today.
New Zealand’s premier shearing competition began with a bang with big crowds, close competition and entries well up on last year.
Commentator Koro Mullins said this morning saw the biggest crowds in 15 years for a Golden Shears opening day and he estimated entries were up 15 percent on last year.
The Department of Labour Novice Shearing Event kicked off the contest, culminating in an exciting final with local Masterton shearer Cushla Gordon showing the boys how it was done.
“Shearings never looked so good,” commented a spectator when Gordon came forward for the trophy. Her graceful style on the stands drew plenty of praise from the commentators for quality and the home crowd was pleased to see Jimmy Peneha of Masterton in second and Martinborough’s Richard Mills at third.
Motueka shearer Shilo Karaheke was fourth with his big, no-sweat style, followed by Danniverke’s Jason Henry in fifth and Richard Falloon of Masterton in sixth.
The Golden Shears runs from Thursday February 28 to Saturday March 1 and sees competitors from New Zealand, Norway, Australia, the UK, Ireland, Canada, and South Africa battle for the top titles.
Thursday sees a full day and evening of heats. Then pared-down competitor groups continue into quarter finals and then finals in some categories throughout Friday.
Friday night fires up when New Zealand versus Australia in the Wool Handling Test.
Saturday sees semi-finals and finals throughout the day, culminating in the Trans-Tasman Shearing Test and Open Shearing Final.

Cushla Gordon

GOLDEN GIRL, GOLDEN SHEARS: Masterton’s Cushla Gordon does the home crowd proud on the opening morning of Golden Shears 2008 at Memorial Stadium today.
“Shearings never looked so good,” commented a spectator when Gordon came forward for the trophy.
Her graceful style on the stands drew plenty of praise from the commentators for quality and the home crowd was pleased to see Jimmy Peneha of Masterton in second and Martinborough’s Richard Mills at third. Motueka shearer Shilo Karaheke was fourth with his big, no-sweat style, followed by Danniverke’s Jason Henry in fifth and Richard Falloon of Masterton in sixth.

Rusty Shears

THE old school of shearing reared its handlebar-head at New Zealand’s favourite shearing contest today.
Moustachioed Rusty Campbell, at the tender age of 72, took on shearers a third of his age at the 48th annual Golden Shears in Masterton.
Campbell shore in the Junior Shearing Event for shearers who have recorded a shed tally of up to 210 sheep in a 9-hour day.
Rusty by name, but certainly not by nature, he displayed a well-oiled style using his signature 1972 handpiece comb and placed 21st out of a field of 63.
The commentators and crowd applauded the “young fella from Dargaville”
“Rusty is from up the far North and he’s having a great shear on stand three. It’s good to see our more mature shearers having fun,” the commentator called.
“He knows where he’s going down that last leg.”
Campbell made the journey to the shears as part of an annual trip with mates Rex Salisbury, 65, also from Dargaville and Ken Massey, also 65, from Whangarei.
“We’ve given up professional shearing long ago but we have a bit of a holiday every year and do about five or six shows in a row and finish with Masterton because I believe it is the best show in the world,” said Massey
Salisbury said the trio warm up before their road trip shearing the odd sheep from friend’s flocks.
Campbell wouldn’t be drawn on his performance.
“I don’t worry about that, I let the judges answer that one!” he said.
However, he was more than happy to detail the history of his ancient comb.
“It’s a very narrow comb. You can’t buy them anymore. My wife bought it for me to go back competition shearing. When I finally got back into it a couple of years back she said she’d been waiting since 1972 for me to go back to the shows.”
Salisbury said a bit of ribbing between the trio saw them make their respective come backs to the world of competitive shearing.
Although Campbell had a slight problem with the antiquity of his gear to begin with.
“A joker rang me up who said he knew me who I hadn’t seen since 1966 and asked me what I was doing next Saturday. I said I was going to the local A and P show and he said ‘have you got your handpiece?’ I said you’ve got to be joking.”
The old mate wasn’t and Campbell couldn’t resist the challenge.
But when he arrived at the show he couldn’t use his handpiece. It was so old it wouldn’t couple to the dropper.
Salisbury knows a thing or to about old handpieces himself. He collects the shearing tool and his earliest example is a 1912 model.
He placed 52nd out of 65 in the Intermediate Shearing Event followed by Massey at 59th.

Jordon Fox

ON the rugby field or on the stand. Wairarapa Bush winger Jordan Fox fleeces a competition sheep on the first day of Golden Shears 2008 today.
Fox, 19, of Masterton, played wing for Wairarapa Bush Senior A’s last season.
He said going from the sheds to the bright lights of Memorial Stadium was a bit like making the Seniors.
“You’re stepping up a level with both of them, you have to get a bit more focussed.”
It was Fox’s third shears after two years in the Novice Event, of which he made the finals in 2007.
“This year they chucked me up to the juniors,” he said.
“On my first sheep I did really good but on the second I tried to speed up too much. But oh well, it’s a bit of excitement.”
Fox’s younger Brother Jareth Fox, 17, also shore at the event.

Wednesday February 27 2008

Golden Shears 2008 Begins

THE excitement and pure physical poetry of competition shearing takes centre stage on opening day of New Zealand's premier shearing event tomorrow.
To win the Golden Shears Open Title is every shearer's dream and the 2008 event in Masterton will see shearing guns from around the country, and the world, in fierce competition.
With the physical fitness of a marathon runner, shearers display extreme skill and accuracy to take the wool off sheep at lightening speeds.
Golden Shears spokesman Greg Herrick says the event is always a fantastic spectator sport. "It's poetry in motion. It's like a boat race where the competitors are racing closely to the finish line, working virtually in unison, blow for blow, but every now and then one man nudges ahead."
"They are athletes with brilliant, fit, athletic skill. Then they've got a live animal which they have to handle while operating a dangerous machine, the combs and cutter, doing some 3000 revolutions a minute."
The Golden Shears runs from Thursday February 28 to Saturday March 1 and sees competitors from New Zealand, Norway, Australia, Scotland, Wales, and South Africa battle for the top titles with the action beginning early tomorrow at 7.45am.
Shearers are no strangers to an early start though, or hard work. Mr Herrick says an average shearer would tally up something between 400 to 500 sheep a day.
"Many shearers shear an eight hour day doing two hour runs at a time. Then you get guys shearing a stayout day from 5am to 5pm, that's where the big tallies are coming from."
"It's a helluva long day and you can understand the drain on the human body when an adult sheep can weigh anything between 60 to over 100 kilos. It's like running two marathons back to back every working day," Mr Herrick says.
The Golden Shears, which celebrates it's 50th birthday in 2010, is very much a fixture of the New Zealand rural calendar and closely linked to the national identity as a farming nation producing some of the world's finest wool.
Mr Herrick says the event has built up a lot of mana over the years and has an international reputation.
"We're now part of New Zealand history and for many shearers around the world their ultimate aim is to get to Masterton and compete in the Golden Shears," he says.
Taranaki's Paul Avery is the reigning Golden Shears champion but will have to work hard to retain the title with a solid line up of challengers this year.
"Paul had been waiting in the wings then all of sudden in recent years he's come to the fore and stamped his mark in the history books. He's found his top gear," Mr Herrick says.
Avery won the event in 2005 but Dion King gained the title in 2006 before Avery came back with another win last year.
Mr Herrick says there is a top echelon of shearers in New Zealand today, some of whom will be among the finalists on Saturday. The group includes Avery and King as well as Dean Ball and Digger Balme and past winner John Kirkpatrick.
Shearing legend and 15-times Golden Shears winner David Fagan is also is still very much in the picture.
"This group has been dominant for a number of years. It swings in roundabouts with one winning a competition one weekend and then another somewhere else in the country the following one."
For all competitors there is a lot at stake with three of the four-person shearing and wool handling team to be selected for the World Champs in Norway this October.