Sheep shearing runs in the family for Rowland Smith who after three victories about 24 hours and 1700km apart on the weekend became possibly only the fourth person to win 100 open-class shearing titles.
The Ruawai-raised champion shearer now based in Hawke's Bay clipped his century at the Counties Shears in Pukekohe on Sunday, a few hours after arriving by plane from Gore, in Southland, where on Saturday he won the South Island Shearer of the Year final and the Southern Shears open final.
In the Gore final, the 30-year-old beat newly-minted world champion Napier shearer John Kirkpatrick, who was runner-up in the Shearer of the Year and third in the Southern Shears Open, and New Zealand world shearing team member Nathan Stratford, of Southland, who placed third and second respectively.
It was a repeat of a unique treble Smith also scored last year, the 100th win being achieved at the same show where he has been unbeaten in six finals dating back to his first open A grade show win in 2010, following previous wins at the Kaikohe and North Kaipara shows in Northland and at Devon County in England.
The only other shearers thought to have cracked the century are multiple world champion Sir David Fagan, who retired with 642 wins, Kirkpatrick, who has a list of over 200 wins, and 2008 world champion and Taranaki farmer Paul Avery, winning 178 finals.