MEDIA RELEASE

On behalf of Shearing Sports New Zealand

January 19, 2012

Hawke's Bay shearing gun resumes battle of the south

Three-times Golden Shears champion John Kirkpatrick resumes his annual southern invasion this week with an air of nonchalance entering what some see as possibly the biggest few weeks in his prolific winning career.

In his 19th season of Open-class shearing, the Hawke's Bay gun takes on the fullwool ewes of the Northern Southland Community Shears in a Lumsden woolshed on Friday and the National Crossbred Lambshearing Championships at the Winton A and P Show on Saturday, chasing at least his fifth double in the events.

The events are the third and fourth legs of a national team selection series, from which just two will be chosen for Shearing Sports New Zealand's machine shearing team section for the World Championships in Masterton in March.

Remaining legs will be held in Taihape on January 28, Marton on February 3, and Balclutha on February 10-11, producing a top 12 for semi-finals and a final in Gore a week later.

Both shows in Southland are also parts of the New Zealand team's woolhandling selection series.

Despite his dominance of New Zealand competitions in recent years, Kirkpatrick has just missed World Championships selection several times, and when he did make it in 2008 he was pipped by teammate Paul Avery in the final in Norway.

But it's not the be-all and end-all for the 41-year-old Napier father-of-three and grandfather who knows the quality of New Zealand shearing and says while "everyone" is after a place in the team he won't be worried if he misses out.

In the meantime he's doing what he does best, travelling, competing and winning.

The winner of both titles in Southland last year, he successfully defended the national lambs title in Raglan on January 7 and is likely to extend this weekend's programme to the Horowhenua Show in Levin on Sunday.

On Friday and Saturday, he will be trying tio bounce back from a demise on his earlier probe south this summer, his failure to make the Canterbury Show's national corriedale championships final, which was won by Australian former World champion Shannon Warnest.

It is one of the busiest weekend of the competition shearing season, with six shows in three days. Also on in the South Island on Saturday is the Golden Bay Show, while in the North Island the Tauranga Shears and the Wairoa A and P Show Shears are also on Saturday.

Shearing veteran David Fagan says the absence of the best at the shows in Southland means other top shearers will be keenly chasing the prizes at the other shows.

He said there are many who have never won, despite being among the best shearers in the World.

All of the shlows feature shearing in all classes, but the Southland shows are the only shows with wololhandling competition this week.

ENDS