New “Goldies” champ – This is for my mum

A new Golden Shears champion has dedicated her win today to the memory of her mum, who died in a road tragedy.

Te Anna Phillips, of Taumarunui, said after winning the Junior woolhandling final she had wanted to make mother Sunnie Hughes proud, she was sure she had done, and had she been among the crowd in Masterton’s War Memorial Stadium, she would have been “screaming” the house down.

“My mum was my everything,” she said. “She still is. My inspiration, my hero. All I’ve ever wanted to do was make my mum proud. That’s what brought me to the Goldies.”

Her mum died after a crash in which the car in which she was a passenger hit a pole in Taumarunui on July 24, 2015.

Phillips, now 22, started competing a year or so later, with just her home show in Taumarunui.

She had her first win at Aria last year, but hit the track big-time in the 2019-2020 season with sister Vinniye.

They dominated the competitions in the North Island, Te Anna Phillips winning at Gisborne and Hastings in October and Rotorua, Dannevirke, Marton, Aria and Tamarunui in the last six weeks, to be strongly favoured for a victory in one of three traditional Golden Shears title events on the third morning of the four-day 60th celebration in Masterton.

Vinniye had had three wins but did not reach the Masterton final.

The other triumphs included a Welsh quinella in the Junior shearing final, won by Rhayader teenager Ellis Rees, who turned 19 last Saturday. The runner-up was more-favoured Corwen shearer Sam Jones, who had won six finals during the New Zealand summer, including major titles at Marton, Balclutha and Gore since the start of February.

The Intermediate shearing final was won 21-year-old Cullum Pritchard, of Pongaroa, a globetrotting shearer who had not been a frequent competitor and had not won this season, unlike brother Leam who had four wins but missed a place in the final.

A former star of the Intermediate grade returned to the stadium to win the Over 76 Evergreens final – with shearing titles 53 years apart.

 Hugh McCarroll, of Tauranga, an MNZM recipient for his service to shearing and agriculture, is 80 and had won the Intermediate title in 1967, at the age of 27.

Also in his event was 86-year-old Southland veteran Ian “Snow” Harrison, who was 6th, just as he was in the founding Open championship final in 1961.

All three Evergreens winners have been competition judges and New Zealand team managers, with 66-75yrs Evergreens final won by Peter McCabe, also of Tauranga, and the 55-65years final by current New Zealand transtasman team manager Dave Brooker, of Rangiora.

The Evergreens woolhandling event was won by Rose Puha, of Kimbolton, also a woolhandling competition judge.