Te Kūiti shearer Jack Fagan goes into the pen during the New Zealand Corriedale Shearing and Woolhandling Championships open final in Christchurch, on the way to winning the event for a second time. Photo / Thomas Lambert
Te Kūiti shearer Jack Fagan goes into the pen during the New Zealand Corriedale Shearing and Woolhandling Championships open final in Christchurch, on the way to winning the event for a second time. Photo / Thomas Lambert
King Country shearer Jack Fagan has won his second New Zealand Corriedale shearing championships title after almost disappearing from the contest during the race for places in the final at the Canterbury Shears in Christchurch.
Fagan flew in from Western Australia in his successful bid to regain a title he won for the first time two years ago.
He was in second place as four previous winners led the 20 shearers in the heats, but last to qualify in the quarter-finals of the 12 for semifinals, with only a 0.39pts buffer from the best of the rest.
Putting the near-demise behind him, he made the top six in fourth place and – with the fastest time in the final and best quality in pen judging – won by 2.37pts from the 2020 winner, Scotland international and Southern Hawke’s Bay farmer Gavin Mutch.
Southland shearer and defending champion Nathan Stratford was third, with four wins in the event dating back to his first in 2005.
They were followed in order by Casey Bailey, of Riverton, a first-time Golden Shears open finalist eight months ago, Rangiora shearer Hugh De Lacy, who was the top qualifier for the final and winner of the Canterbury All-Breeds Circuit the previous day, and Marlborough shearer Angus Moore, who won the title in 2021.
Fagan, son of Sir David Fagan who won the title 13 times between 1984 and 2009, shore the 12 sheep in 13m 19.56s, with Mutch second to finish, in 13m 31.91s, with De Lacy next half a minute later.
Stratford was second-to-last off the board but had the best quality points, highlighted by just seven penalties recorded in judging on the shearing board.
Meanwhile, Southern Hawke’s Bay shearer Laura Bradley firmly established herself as possibly New Zealand’s and even the world’s most successful female competition shearer when she won the senior final and the women’s event.
It was a big day for women shears, with fellow event entries and Rangiora-based Ella Caves winning the intermediate event and Holly Crombie the junior event.
From Papatawa, between Dannevirke and Woodville, she’s now had seven wins in the senior class and is on the brink of becoming the first woman to be promoted to open class based on competition results.
Laura Bradley in action during her winning effort in the senior final at the New Zealand Corriedale Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in Christchurch on Friday. Photo / Thomas Lambert
She has won three successive women’s events this year, at the Golden Shears in Masterton, the New Zealand Shears in Te Kūiti at the end of last season, and now the Corriedale championships.
The senior final was also a triumph for the north, with Taumarunui shearer Taelor Tarrant first to finish, shearing the seven sheep in 12m 1.13s, beating Wairoa shearer Bruce Grace by 15 seconds, with Bradley next in 12m 27.84s.
Bradley had enough quality to beat Tarrant by 1.1 points, with Grace taking third place, although the best quality points were scored by Tarrant’s brother, Aidan, who was fourth overall.
Though competitor numbers did not meet organisers’ hopes, with only 59 entries across the six events – of whom eight shore in two events – the senior event had an encouraging 16 entries.
In the women’s final of four sheep each, Bradley was surprisingly beaten to the finish by Caves, who shore the four sheep in 8m 11.62s, but had vastly superior judging-pens quality and claimed the win by almost 10 points from first-year senior Emma Martin, of Wyndham, who won the event last season when she was No 1-ranked intermediate shearer nationwide.
Fairlie farmer Tony Dobbs looks for the finest in winning the Canterbury Shears New Zealand Golden Blades title for the 20th time. Photo / Thomas Lambert
Blades shearing legend Tony Dobbs, of Fairlie, showed no sign of drawing the curtain on his career, winning the show’s Golden Blades title for the 20th time, his fourth win in four finals this season, in a career tally of more than 110 wins in blades finals spanning four decades.
Fagan made an even more successful trip of it by winning the Waiau Rugby Club Speed Shear open final in North Canterbury on Saturday, with the fastest sheep of 22.8s.
Lionel Taumata, of Gore, was second in 25.98s, and third was New Zealand-based Scotland shearer Scott Wilson in 26.12s.
Emily Te Kapa, of Scotland, won the women’s speed shear with a quickest time of 38.28s.
Shearing-only competitions will be shorn at the Nelson and West Otago A&P shows on November 23, the last shearing sports competitions in the South Island until the Peninsula Duvauchelle Shears on January 11.
Hugh De Lacy, of Rangiora, pondering whether he'd done enough in the Canterbury All-Breeds Circuit title at the Canterbury Shears in Christchurch. He had, and successfully defended the title. Photo / Thomas Lambert
On Thursday, the Donaghys Canterbury All Breeds Multi-Breeds Circuit final was won for the second year in a row by Rangiora shearer Hugh De Lacy.
In the six-man showdown of 14 sheep each, he was closest challenged by North Otago shearing contractor Willy McSkimming, who finished in 16m 17.91s and beat De Lacy by about 11 seconds.
But De Lacy, with the least penalties in pen judging and the best quality overall, won by 3.69pts.
The only remaining competitions in the North Island before Christmas are the Matiere Cosmopolitan Club Speed Shear near Taumarunui on November 29, the shearing-only Taranaki Shears in Stratford on November 30, with a speed shear afterwards at the Toko rugby club, and the Whangārei A&P Show, also with a speed shear, on December 7, when the Rotorua A&P Show Shearing and Woolhandling Championships will also be held.
New Zealand Corriedale Shearing and Woolhandling Championships
Shearing results from the Canterbury Shears in Christchurch
Thursday and Friday, November 14-15
Open final (12 sheep): Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 13m 19.56s, 50.31pts, 1; Gavin Mutch (Scotland/Dannevirke) 13m 31.91s, 52.68pts, 2; Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 14m 25.66s, 53.12pts, 3; Casey Bailey (Riverton) 14m 44.28s, 55.21pts, 4; Hugh De Lacy (Rangiora) 14m 1.5s, 55.49pts, 5; Angus Moore (Ward) 14m 4.34s, 61.47pts, 6.
