Young guns take the spoils as vets look-on

MEDIA RELEASE

On behalf of Shearing Sports New Zealand

March 7, 2010, 5pm

Young guns take the spoils as vets look-on

Nostalgia meant nothing to a new wave of youngsters who scooped most of the major spoils watched by a host of former champions as the 50th Golden Shears ended in Masterton on Saturday.

The glamour open shearing title was won by first-time finalist and Waipawa speedster Cam Ferguson, who having recently turned 26 was just over half the age of 48-year-old veteran Te Kuiti icon David Fagan, in the final for a 24th time and making an unsuccessful bid for title No 17.

Ferguson became the youngest to win the title since Fagan first won in 1986, and the first first-time finalist to win since 1989, and claimed the first of two machine-shearing places in the New Zealand team for this year’s World Championships in Wales.

It was Hawke’s Bay quinella, with early favourite and 2002 and 2008 winner John Kirkpatrick, of Napier, runner-up for a sixth time, while Fagan was third.

A third Hawke’s Bay shearer, 2006 winner Dion King, was fifth.

But the trend towards new faces was otherwise evident across the competition, headed by 18-year-old Joel Henare, of Gisborne, became the youngest to win the Golden Shears open woolhandling title.

Earlier in the day, three lower grade shearing titles were also won by teenagers, 19-year-old Gisborne shearers Tama Niania and Wi Poutu Ngarangione claiming the Senior and Intermediate titles respectively, and Southland schoolboy Brett Roberts winning the title just a few days before his 16th birthday.

Their wins followed the opening-day success of Masterton schoolboy David Gordon, who at the age of 13 won the novice title and became the youngest winner in the history of the championships.

The other major open shearing event, the PGG Wrightson National Series final, shorn over 15-sheep of five different wool types, was a triumph for Rakaia shearer Tony Coster. He won free use of a Hyundai Santa Fe, adorned with his own image as a result of his win in the event last year.

Te Awamutu woolhandler Keryn Herbert won the World Championships woolhandling selection trial, with reigning World champion Sheree Alabaster, of Taihape, second. They will take part in the championships in July, at the expense of former champion and Australia-based Whanganui woolhandler Joanne Kumeroa was third and failed to qualify.

The senior woolhandling title was a special success for Masterton’s Larnie Morell, who was suffered serious hip injuries in a fatal shearing gang van crash in Otago 18 months ago and has not yet returned to fulltime work. The junior woolhandling title was won by Sharni Graham, of Masterton.

The blade shearing event run as a special feature of the celebrations was won by Phil Oldfield, of Geraldine, and then woolpressing events were a hometown cleansweep, with Jeremy Goodger winning the men’s singles, Fiona Christensen the women’s, and Carl Cocks and former New Zealand Kiwis rugby league representative David Ewe the pairs.

The shears major non-championships honour was a success for the Agriculture ITO Tectra-run shearing training in New Zealand with modern apprentice trainee and intermediate runner-up Tysson Hema, of Waipukurau, winning the coveted R.E.O’Hara Memorial for best quality points in any of the five shearing-grade finals.

Ferguson, who won the Golden Shears senior title in 2004, had won six open titles during the season, including the New Zealland Spring Shears full-wool title in Waimate, the Otago Championships in Balclutha, and the South Island Shearer of the Year final in Gore, to be rated a real chance in Masterton despite having never been in then big final before.

He also ceded at least 10 years to all of the other finalists except Invercargill shearer Nathan Stratford.

The major surprise earlier in the day was the semi-finals elimination of World Champion and Taranaki farmer Paul Avery, and the final was to be among the more dramatic.

A father-of-three who gave up an ambition to play in the Te Aute College to go to work as a teenaged parent, Ferguson won the race on Saturday night, finishing his 20 sheep in 16min 36.353sec, the sixth-fastest winning time.

With just six seconds covering the next four, luckless Te Kuiti shearer Dean Ball, in his 12th final without ever winning the title was next off in 16min 45.666sec, and last off was the only South Islander, Invercargill’s Nathan Stratford, taking 17min 20.286sec.

But it was an all-round success for Ferguson who also posted the best quality points, both on the board and in the pens outside.

It was a remarkable effort for Ferguson who a short time earlier was third in the PGG Wrightson National, after finishing first in a near-record time.

In a personal moment some hours afterwards, former shearing great Roger Cox told Ferguson how “impressed” he was, and the star-struck new champion inquired:

“Y’reckon?”

The New Zealand shearing team of Dean Ball, Tony cost and Nathan Stratford beat Australians Shannon Warnest, Jason Wingfield and Bill Hutchinson team to avenge a loss in last November's transtasman test in Warialda, NSW. New Zealand teams had earlier in the championships won a woolhandling test against Australia, and another shearing test against Wales.

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