Fagan on top in Christchurch
November 16, 2024
Te Kūiti shearer Jack Fagan powered past a quality field at the New Zealand Corriedale Championships on Friday (November 15) to win his second Christchurch Show title in two years. Fagan, the 2022 winner, barely scraped into the semi-finals as the last qualifier, but showed his class from there.
Fagan was the fastest finisher in the final, ahead of Scotland’s Gavin Mutch and also produced one of the cleanest shears of the night.
“That was an awesome final. Great field, a really strong final today. The sheep were probably a bit trickier than normal today, but I managed to pull it off and it feels amazing,” Fagan said. “Having your gear running is very important on these (sheep) as they’re quite fine in the wool so I’m pretty happy.”
Open champion Jack Fagan.
Women’s champion Laura Bradley.
Bradley breaks new ground
November 16, 2024
It was a North Island sweep of the major prizes at the New Zealand Corriedale Championships on Friday (November 15), with Tararua shearer Laura Bradley winning the inaugural Corriedale women’s event. “It’s awesome,” she said. “Considering I wasn’t even going to come down until Sunday, it was short notice, I’m really proud of myself and of all the other women.”
It was a double celebration from Bradley who also won the (open mixed) competition for senior grade shearers. “Times are changing,” she said. “Women may not be able to shear as many sheep, but the quality of the shearing and the work is a lot higher I reckon.”
Something about that arena (part ii)
November 16, 2024
Canterbury Shears NZ Corriedale Shearing & Woolhandling Champs organising committee chairman Jonathan Carden-Holdstock has been involved with the Christchurch Show (in its various manifestations) for a number of years. This is his first foray into shearing and he clearly is relishing the experience.
Shearing chairman Jonathan Carden-Holdstock.
There’s something about the shearing in that arena
Competition gets under way at this year’s Christchurch Show tomorrow (November 14) with the Canterbury Shears NZ Corriedale Shearing & Woolhandling Champs. The feature event, the Open Machine Shears, takes place on Friday the 15th with the final scheduled for late afternoon.
It will be excitement as usual. “There’s something about the shearing in that arena – it’s something that Christchurch has to itself,” says Jonathan Carden-Holdstock, chairman of the shearing committee.
“When you walk into the amphitheatre it’s electric, the whole thing. You’ve got the time-keepers, the shearers, the noise of the audience, and the closer you get to the final the cheers get louder. The shearing is the sleeping giant of the show.”
In the news
Wool is in the news, again, as any internet search will show. This, from The Guardian, aligns very much with the ‘horror’ video above. And, as 2023 Peninsula Shears champion Ant Frew says, the time for renewable resources is long overdue.
The Southern Series is dedicated to the ‘soft footprint’ of wool. Keep an eye on this space for more.
Ant Frew at the Duvauchelle Show.
Duvauchelle first for Taumata
January 13, 2024
Southland shearer Lionel Taumata won his first-ever open title today at the Peninsula Shears at the Duvauchelle A&P Show, the first shearing event in New Zealand for 2024.
“I’m ecstatic, it’s unreal,” Taumata said. “Ant Frew is here and he’s a real good open shearer so it was good to get my first win. It was definitely no gimme.”
Taumata beat Frew, local veteran Shaun Burgess and the up-and-coming Brayden Clifford in the four-stand final.
The win gave the man sometimes dubbed ‘the King of the Speed Shears’ the perfect start to what will be a busy schedule over the next few weeks. “I’ve got the Lumsden shears and Winton shears on Friday and Saturday and there’ll be three speed shears on that same weekend,” Taumata said, “so yeah it’s a good way to start the year.”
Defending champion Frew was also happy with his first outing of the year. “A few nerves at the start as always, but it’s good to get the first one out and get a good score on the board,” he said before the final. “I’ve been coming here for three or four years and it’s a good show nice and small. Defending a title, it’s pretty hard, really mentally so we’ll see what happens.”
Taumata was the only shearer to take less than a minute per sheep in the four-man final.
Burgess, Clifford, Frew (and Frew minor) with first-time Open winner Taumata.
Local wool, global solution
At the Duvauchelle show in January we caught up with Ian Robinson of the Banks Peninsula Wool Growers who talked about many things including the Duvauchelle event, the shearing competition and the absurdity of synthetic carpets in schools. And, how farmers on the Peninsula have come together to effect change.
Check out the video or for more info go to www.bankspeninsulafarms.com
Quality time ahead on the Peninsula
January 8, 2024
The Southern Series (TSS) is heading to Banks Peninsula and the Duvauchelle Agricultural and Pastoral (A&P) show on Saturday January 13 for the first event of 2024.
Troy Pyper
Luis Pincol
The Duvauchelle crowd
Ant Frew
The Duvauchelle show’s shearing section has a history of producing quality champions, including Sir David Fagan in 2014 and, in more recent times, Troy Pyper (2019-20-21), Chilean Louis Pincol in 2022 and, last year, Ant Frew.
“It’s only a four-stand event, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less exciting and there’s usually a great crowd,” says TSS Event Manager Hugh de Lacy (snr).
“And, of course Banks Peninsula is hill country, a bit like the central North Island, so the sheep are open-faced and clean-pointed strongwool types; not a Corriedale in sight — we promise.
“We’re hoping to see 2022 Banks Peninsula champion Luis Pincol back again after really starting to make his presence felt in the open ranks in the past couple of years. Luis shears mostly in South Canterbury where he’s lived for years, but his Chilean background definitely brings an international flavour to the event.”
Duvauchelle A&P President James Dwyer calls it the “biggest little show in the country”, with the bonus of being located in the heart of one of New Zealand’s prime tourist destinations. “It’s a beautiful location; hills, water, fishing, boating, dolphins. Magical.” For the shearers, Dwyer says, “it’s a chance to clear out the cobwebs after a good solid Christmas and New Year”.
The show will also provide the first part of two Canterbury “book-ends” to the TSS year, along with the New Zealand Corriedale Championships at the New Zealand A&P show in Christchurch in November.
