What a fantastic turnout at the highly anticipated and hotly contested Whanga Shears held as usual on the last Sunday of February in the Herlihy woolshed.
Competitor numbers were so good that the old evergreens such as Couchie, Clint, Rat, Cop, Porkie and Pa didn’t feel the need to display their skills with the hand piece but did so in the judging.
It was great to see some new faces. The Growing Future Farmers trainees made an excellent job of crutching and presenting the sheep under the tutelage of some locals on the Friday and cocky Shaggy made the smart move to put them under cover that night.
When it came to the crunch, young Maaka Nikau from Tamuranui won the novice section and local Darren Pease won the junior. Peggy Sue showed the Hutchinson cuzzies that it wasn’t all about speed and took home the coveted Wayne Donaldson Trophy for the intermediate event. In the senior section, Clint Hutchinson showed his two boys how it is done, winning the senior title while Mick Fabish took out the open final.
