MEDIA RELEASE

From Doug Laing, media officer, Shearing Sports New Zealand

April 12, 2017

Royal Easter Show shearing cancelled

The Northern Shears, which would have been a feature of the Royal Easter Show in Auckland, have been cancelled because of the cyclone that has hit the region.

The decision to cancel was made today, on the eve of the first day of the show at which the Shears were to have been held on Friday and Saturday, possibly featuring the latest clash of new World champion John Kirkpatrick and Golden Shears and New Zealand champion and former World champion Rowland Smith.

Cyclone Cook has brought more than 30mm of rain to Auckland today, but 150-300mm is expected to have fallen in the 48 hours up to midnight tomorrow, even more than the 100mm-plus falls recorded during Cyclone Debbie last week, and in the previous week.

Shears competition co-organiser Emily Welch said there were multiple reasons for the cancellation, including risk to animal welfare and expected sheep transport difficulties on roads from the Port Waikatoa area, some of which been closed in last week’s storm.

It’s the fifth show to have been lost from the Shearing Sports New Zealand calendar in the season which ends on Easter Monday at the Mackenzie A and P Show in Fairlie, South Canterbury.

Also canned because of bad weather were the Kumeu Shears on March 11 and the Oxford Shears in North Canterbury last Saturday, while the Kowai Sefton Sports Shears which were to have been held on March 12 and were postponed for a week because of the rain.

The Kaikoura A and P Show at the end of February had been cancelled because of the damage and other impacts of the November earthquake, while there had been a pre-season decision not to stage a shearing competition this season at the Northern Wairoa A and P at Arapohue, near Dargaville, because of a clash with the World shearing and woolhandling championships held in Invercargill on February 8-11.

Hawke’s Bay shearer Smith, who has won 18 finals in a row since the start of February, had already booked a flight from Auckland to the South Island to finish off his season at Fairlie, and said he still plans to be at the show on Monday when Shearing Sports New Zealand chairman Sir David Fagan will formally open a new six-stand shearing pavilion.

Fagan’s son, Jack Fagan, is also planning to travel south to shear against Smith in the Mackenzie Open, which doubles at the New Zealand Lambshearing Championship.

ENDS

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