Plague of problems hits Sefo at world champs

There was high drama for Masterton's Faavae Sefo when he contested sawing events at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney, both individually and for his country
Sefo's first hassle came before the world single saw championship when the saw he intended to compete with failed to arrive. A different saw was organised and after placing second in his heat Sefo finished sixth in the final.
Not one to make excuses Sefo conceded he might have done better but for the hiccup with the saws.
"It's one of those things you never can tell. It's an advantage to know your equipment but, hey, these things happen and you just have to get on with it."
More disappointing for Sefo was an unfortunate incident which stopped him and his New Zealand teammate, Warren Riddle of Feilding, from deservedly claiming a medal in in the world double saw championship.
After placing second in their heat Sefo and Riddle were in a close battle for second place with three other pairings coming to the last few strikes when Sefo's back foot slipped and he found himself down on one knee.
He continued sawing from there but the momentum loss saw he and Riddle relegated to fifth place.
"We looked at the video later and we were a really good chance for second. I felt so sorry for Warren," Sefo recalled, saying he had never experienced any footing problems before. "There was nothing I could do, it was just pure bad luck I guess".
The drama wasn't over for Sefo yet though. Made captain of the New Zealand wood chopping and sawing team for their three-test Trans Tasman Trophy relay series against Australia he was heavily involved in a controversy which erupted after the Aussies had won the first test by no more than three blows.
Video coverage taken by a couple of Kiwis had shown than an Aussie underhand cutter had been guilty of cutting with one foot on the ground rather than both feet on the block as the rules dictate.
With Sefo as their spokesman New Zealand justifiably launched a protest and after a lengthy process,.during which it was firstly said that no official video coverage of the test was available only for that to proved incorrect a few hours later, the protest was upheld and the result changed to give New Zealand the win.
"Obviously there were some Aussies who didn't like it but the rules are the rules and we really had no alternative but to protest," Sefo said.
"And the official video backed us up, a mistake was made and they (Australia) paid for it,"
As it happened that victory ensured New Zealand a share of the test spoils as Australia went on to win the second encounter and the third was cancelled because of persistent rain making conditions dangerous.
For Sefo the Sydney competition signalled the end of his season but after a short break he intends to follow a rigorous fitness regime to have him at peak for another tilt at international glory&.this time without the drama of course!