Third place went to North Island gun Toa Henderson, who was first to finish the 16 sheep in 15min 23.51sec, beating Samuels off the board by 3.12sec in a frantic race for time honours.
It was just the 18th open final win in New Zealand for Roxburgh-based Invercargill shearer Samuels, who had been only an occasional competition shearer on the annual circuits of 55-60 competitions in New Zealand each season, until stepping up the action in 2019.
He has since won in mainly national title events, including the PGG Wrightson Vetmed National Shearing Circuit and New Zealand Shears Circuit double in 2021 and the New Zealand Shears open final in Te Kuiti last April.
Stratford won success in the New Zealand Winter Comb Championship final on the opening day of the South Canterbury town’s annual shearing and woolhandling championships on Friday, beating runner-up Jack Fagan, of Te Kuiti, by just under 1pt.
He has now won 79 open finals since his first triumph in the top grade in 1998, including two wins in the UK.
New Zealand drew first blood in annual home and away transtasman shearing when Canterbury shearers Tony Dobbs, of Fairlie, and Allen Gemmell, of Loburn, beat Australian pair Johnathon Dalla and Andrew Murray in a blade shearing test, ahead of the Australian leg of the series, to be contested on October 20 at Jamestown, South Australia, along with a machine shearing and woolhandling tests.
There was a surprise result in the opening open blade-shearing final of the season when Tim Hogg, of Timaru, claimed the Waimate title by beating Dobbs, Dalla and Gemmell in a six-man final of six sheep each.
Joel Henare, from Gisborne, won the Waimate Shears open woolhandling title for the seventh time, a third time in a row, taking his total of individual open final wins, including two world titles, to 133 since his first in 2016.
Senior shearing finals provided two first-time senior winners, with Matt Taylor, of Kurow, winning the Winter Comb senior final on Friday and Kapua Brown, of Taumarunui, the Waimate senior shearing final on Saturday.
In other shearing finals, Emma Martin, of Gore, carried on from her succession of junior successes last summer to win the Waimate Intermediate shearing final, the junior title was won by Jet Schimanski, of Gore, and the novice event was won by Jacob Booth, of Waimate.
The Waimate Shears senior woolhandling final was won by Charis Morrell, of Alexandra, and the junior title by Makayla Neil, of Piopio.
The South Island Circuit open woolhandling final - which stemmed from a series of events over the last 12 months - was won by New Zealand 2023 World Championships representative Candy Hiri, of Mataura.
Saska Tuhakaraina, of Gore, won the senior circuit final.
The open shearing also incorporated the second round of the 2023-2024 PGG Wrightson Vetmed National Shearing Circuit, from which the top 12 shearers, based on points for placings at five competitions throughout the season, qualify for the finals at the Golden Shears in Masterton in March.
The shears attracted about 130 competitors, including 77 in machine-shearing events and 43 woolhandlers.
Many of the competitors now head for work in the North Island, where the North’s first event of the season, the Gisborne Shearing and Woolhandling Championships at the Poverty Bay A and P Show, will be held on Saturday when competition in the South Island continues at the Ellesmere A and P at Leeston.
Waimate Spring Shears Shearing and Woolhandling Championships results
International:
Transtasman Blades Shearing (4 sheep): New Zealand (Tony Dobbs 13min 22.38sec, 48.869pts; Allen Gemmell 14min 56.9sec, 56.845pts) 105.714pts, beat Australia (Johnathon Dalla 13min 14.9sec, 49.745pts; Andrew Murray 16min 45.05sec, 67.2525pts) 116.9987pts.
Waimate Shears Shearing
Open final (16 sheep): Leon Samuels (Invercargill) 15min 26.72sec, 52.0235pts, 1; Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 16min 1.86sec, 52.343pts, 2; Toa Henderson (Kaiwaka) 15min 23.51sec, 52.988pts, 3; Brett Roberts (Mataura) 15min 39.16sec, 53.0205pts, 4; David Gordon (Masterton) 15min 56.47sec, 53.261pts, 5; Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 16min 14.07sec, 61.891pts, 6.
Open Plate (10 sheep): Corey Palmer (Dipton) 10min 54.06sec, 38.603pts, 1; Floyde Neil (Taumarunui/Boyup Brook, West Australia) 10min 4.17sec, 40.2085pts, 2; Corey Barrowcliff (Piopio) 10min 40.57sec, 41.0285pts, 3; Taare Edwards (Rakaia) 12min 7.16sec, 41.658pts, 4; Hori Rata (Ongarue) 10min 37.86sec, 42.893pts, 5; Josef Winders (Invercargill) 10min 26.1sec, 44.205pts, 6.
Senior final (8 sheep): Kapua Brown (Taumarunui) 9min 35.97sec, 39.1035pts, 1; Aidan Tarrant (Taumarunui) 10min 49.82sec, 39.741pts, 2; John Cherrington (Ngaruawahia/Oamaru) 10min 51.97sec, 40.0985pts, 3; Alice Watson (Seddon) 11min 13.22sec, 40.411pts, 4; Reuben King (Kaiapoi) 10min 50.65sec, 40.9075pts, 5; Blake Crooks (Rangiora) 10min 14.57sec, 42.8535pts, 6.
Intermediate final (5 sheep): Emma Martin (Gore) 9min 2.07sec, 33.3035pts, 1; Cody Waihape (Mataura) 7min 46.34sec, 33.517pts, 2; Hautapu Mikaere (Te Awamutu) 7min 35.11sec, 35.5555pts, 3; Lydia Thomson (Rangiora) 9min 23.81sec, 36.5905pts, 4; Tim Dickson (Feilding) 7min 40.92sec, 37.046pts, 5; Marius Klopper (Bloemfontein, South Africa/Winton NZ) 8min 36.77sec, 40.2385pts, 6.
Junior final (3 sheep): Jet Schimanski (Gore) 7min 5.64sec, 36.282pts, 1; Reuben Wilkinson (Wyndham) 9min 6.5sec, 36.6583pts, 2; Connor Wilkinson (Wyndham) 8min 24.24sec, 37.8787pts, 3; Leevi Lex Wilson (Wyndham) 8min 14.59sec, 40.3962pts, 4; Donnie Stringer (Ranfurly) 8min 49.11sec, 40.7888pts, 5; Mac McTavish (Lawrence) 8min 17.47sec, 43.2068pts, 6.
Novice (1 sheep): Jacob Booth (Waimate) 4min 8.58sec, 23.429pts, 1; Kane Miles (Christchurch) 2min 53.3sec, 23.665pts, 2; Manawa Hunt (Oamaru) 2min 48.38sec, 46.419pts, 3.
Blades final (6 sheep): Tim Hogg (Timaru) 18min 3.41sec, 66.3372pts, 1; Tony Dobbs (Fairlie) 19min 20.51sec, 68.0255pts, 2; Johnathon Dalla (Warooka, South Australia) 20min 21.79sec, 68.9228pts, 3; Allen Gemmell (Loburn) 18min 21.07sec, 78.5535pts, 4; Phil Oldfield (Geraldine) 23min 32.09sec, 81.2712pts, 5; Andrew Murray (Wellington, NSW) 24min 59.03sec, 88.4515pts, 6.
New Zealand Winter Comb Shearing Championships
Shearing:
Open final (10 sheep): Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 20min 47.03sec, 80.2525pts, 1; Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 19min 29.27sec, 81.1635pts, 2; Brett Roberts (Mataura) 21min 9.05sec, 83.6525pts, 3; Chris Vickers (Palmerston) 19min 32sec, 89.6pts, 4; Paerata Abraham (Masterton) 19min 47.29sec, 90.7645pts, 5; Colin Dennison (Kurow) 22min 14.25sec, 93.1125pts, 6.
Senior final (5 sheep): Matt Taylor (Kurow) 12min 52.43sec, 68.6215pts, 1; Aiden Tarrant (Taumarunui) 16min 57.44sec, 75.872pts, 2; Taelor Tarrant (Taumarunui) 15min 5.73sec, 76.8865pts, 3; Tawhaarangi Taylor (Murupara) 15min 54.06sec, 77.303pts, 4; Andrew Booth (Waimate) 16min 28.82sec, 82.841pts, 5; Ruby Stone (Waimate) 16min 59.31sec, 88.9655pts, 6.
Woolhandling:
Open final: Joel Henare (Gisborne) 47.262pts, 1; Tia Potae (Harataunga Kennedy Bay/Milton) 86.994pts, 2; Amy Ferguson (Invercargill) 94.78pts, 3; Cushla Abraham (Masterton) 167.124pts, 4.
Senior final: Charis Morrell (Alexandra) 112.692pts, 1; Tre Ratana Sciascia (Taihape) 116.676pts, 2; Krome Elers (Mataura) 140.368pts, 3; Shakira Matenga (Dunedin) 177.464pts, 4.
Junior final: Makayla Neil (Piopio) 143.56pts, 1; Sarah Lewis (Gisborne) 146.47pts, 2; Lucy Elers (Mataura) 164.16pts, 3; Tess Kelly (Rakaia) 212.27pts, 4.
South Island Woolhandling Circuit:
Open final: Candy Hiri (Mataura) 108.918pts, 1; Cushla Abraham (Masterton) 111.518pts, 2; Keryn Herbert (Te Kuiti) 133.5pts, 3; Amy Ferguson (Invercargill) 135.25pts, 4.
Senior final: Saska Tuhakaraina (Gore) 111.776pts, 1; Krome Elers (Mataura) 134.686pts, 2; Maiden Elers (Mataura) 144.75pts, 3; Charlotte Stuart (Omarama) 154.44pts, 4.
