Ferguson still soaking in big win

Practically the whole of the small Central Hawke's Bay township of Waipawa was at the Ferguson household for a celebratory barbecue on Sunday.
They were toasting the success of 26-year-old Cam Ferguson in the open final at the 50th Golden Shears in Masterton the previous evening, a success which even had the usually unflappable Ferguson uttering words like ''awesome'' and ''bloody amazing'' when asked yesterday to reflect on his remarkable victory.
Remarkable because it was his first time in an open final after two previous attempts had seen him miss out on the top six by two places and also because his opposition included most of the big guns in New Zealand shearing, names like David Fagan, who just happened to have won the Shears on 16 occasions, John Kirkpatrick, Dion King and Dean Ball.
Not that Ferguson was surprised at his win. He wasn't because his lead-up form was outstanding and he had battled and beaten the best around in other competitions preceding the biggest of them all. In short he knew he was ready to take centre stage but there was always the thought that anything other than an absolutely top notch performance would see him in the minor placings.
''You dream about winning the Golden Shears but you know it's never going to be easy,it's the ultimate title after all,'' he said. ''Every shearer wants it and to get the first is ... well, it's bloody amazing.''
While saying that hard work would always be the main recipe for success in the shearing world Ferguson did exactly the opposite on the day before the open heats commenced.
He spent the Thursday resting up, a big change from his usual diet of shearing something like 400 sheep a day as one of the gang of Central Hawke's Bay shearing contractor Neil Waihape.
''I tried to get as much sleep as I could just to get the energy levels up, and I guess it paid off.'' Ferguson said. ''Come Friday I was feeling good and Saturday was pretty much the same, everything fell into place.''
Ferguson said his tactics at the Golden Shears were the same as they were for any competition, go as fast as he could without detracting from the quality of his work. ''Speed isn't everything, that if the quality isn't there it won't matter how fast you go you still won't win,'' he said. Ferguson had the perfect match of speed and quality on Saturday night but while he was ''pretty hopeful''of having done enough to win there was the anxious wait for the points to be tallied up before the big announcement was made.
''I knew I was in with a show but the waiting makes you nervous,'' he said. ''All you can do is hope like hell.''
By his own admission never one to show too much emotion, Ferguson was anything but effusive in his initial response to questions asking how he felt about being crowned Golden Shears champion but he admitted yesterday to being stoked, not only for himself but for his very supportive family.
''It was awesome, really awesome,'' he said. ''Actually it's still hard to believe, it means a lot though''.
Word of his victory spread fast, particularly in Waipawa. Hence the huge turnout to Sunday's barbecue with Ferguson thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to have a few beers with his mates, and take some ribbing too.
''I don't think I'll have any trouble keeping my feet on the ground,'' he quipped.
Yesterday, by comparison, was a quiet day with Ferguson spending a relaxing time with family but today it was back to the shearing sheds and the normal grind of confronting another 400 of those woolly creatures who have helped make Cam Ferguson the latest Golden Shears pin-up boy.