Henderson won his first Golden Shears final over 20 sheep in Masterton four weeks ago and stepped up to a new challenge by shearing the first 25-sheep final in more than three decades in 19m 57.44s, averaging 49.64s a sheep caught, shorn and dispatched, to finish 28.65s before next man off Mark Grainger, of Te Kūiti.
He was 49.08s ahead of Scottish shearer and Southern Hawke’s Bay farmer Gavin Mutch, who made the pace early and hung on to claim second place.
Henderson won by 1.534pts, with a further 0.274pts back to Marlborough shearer Angus Moore in third place.
Earlier in the night, Mutch had mastered the merinos, second-shear ewe and lambs of the New Zealand Shears Circuit final to claim his biggest Southern Hemisphere win after his 2012 world championship and 2015 Golden Shears open win, both in Masterton.
Mutch shore the 15 mixed sheep in 14m 9.59s and won by 2.174pts from next man off Grainger who, with the winner ineligible for New Zealand selection on a nationality basis, will with Henderson make up the New Zealand team for test matches in the UK in July.
Their thunder was all but stolen, however, by Southern Hawke’s Bay mum Laura Bradley, who completed the most successful season yet by a female shearer.
She beat her five male opponents in the senior shearing final to become the first woman to win either the senior or intermediate final in Te Kūiti.
Earlier in the day, she won the junior woolhandling final, and on Friday night she had completed her second Golden Shears-New Zealand Shears women’s finals double.
Laura Bradley, of Papatawa, on her way to becoming the first woman to win the New Zealand Shears senior shearing title. Photo / Shearing Sports New Zealand
Although finishing just fourth in the Golden Shears senior final, Bradley has won 12 finals this season and four from last season. As a result, she will become the first woman promoted to open class based on competition performances.
She will also be promoted to senior class in woolhandling, after four wins in junior events this season.
Keryn Herbert, of Te Kūiti, retained the open woolhandling title after winning the event last year for the first time in more than 20 years of trying, with Logan Kamura, of Marton, the runner-up.
Motueka-based Joel Henare, who on March 1 won his 10th consecutive Golden Shears open title, was fourth.
Keryn Herbert winning her second New Zealand Shears open woolhandling title. Photo / Shearing Sports New Zealand
Herbert has won more than 60 open woolhandling titles.
Friday night belonged to Te Kūiti shearer Jack Fagan, who won the North Island Shearer of the Year final and, with Buick, completed a 3-0 series win over the Wales team of Llyr Jones and Gethin Lewis. Fagan was also part of the Balme and Son team that won the contractors’ teams final.
Fagan had been in the North Island Shearer of the Year final a few times, had his “arse kicked” a few times and was starting to wonder if he would ever win it.
He won the Shears Circuit final last year, has been shearing in the open class for 12 years, and was runner-up in the South Island Shearer of the Year final won by Dipton shearer Corey Palmer in Gore on February 14.
Gavin Mutch was all emotion after winning the New Zealand Shears Circuit final. Photo / Shearing Sports New Zealand.
Buick combined with Henderson and Masterton shearer David Gordon for a win by almost four points in the inter-island match, having also won the match in Gore six weeks ago.
Ōamaru teenager Tye Meikle will end the 2024-25 shearing sports season with more wins than any other competitor in any grade.
His win in the junior final in Te Kūiti on Friday was the 16-year-old’s 14th in his season of 21 finals at 21 venues, from Winton in the south to Whangārei in the North over the 22 weeks of competition, with one more left – the National Lamb Shearing Championship in Fairlie on Easter Monday.
The win over five sheep each was a near head-to-head North-South match with Gisborne teenager Jodiesha Kirkpatrick, the winner of 11 of her 20 finals.
Results from the 39th New Zealand Shearing Championships
Te Kūiti, March 27-29, 2025
Shearing:
International (20 lambs): New Zealand (David Buick 15m30.64s, 56.932pts; Jack Fagan 15m 51.86s, 57.643pts) 114.575pts, beat Wales (Llyr Jones 15m 28.97s, 58.599pts; Gethin Lewis 15m 52.97s, 60.599pts) 119.198pts. New Zealand won the Wools of New Zealand Series 3-0.
