Hawke’s Bay local takes out Golden Shears Open against Marlborough and Southland shearers

The quality, rather than the speed of Rowland Smith’s shearing was the decisive factor in achieving his goal of an eighth Golden Shears Open shearing title at Masterton’s War Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.

Smith claimed his latest Golden Shears victory by more than three points from runner-up, Marlborough shearer Angus Moore.

This was despite being only third off the board after a classic race for time honours on stands 1, 2, and 3.

A time points deficit of more than one point was nothing given the trademark quality of the two-metre giant, who also won in 2013-14 and 2016-2020.

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Moore, in the Open final for the first time, but having earlier in the night won the multi-breed PGG Wrightson Vetmed National Shearing Circuit final for a third time, bolted into the lead on the second sheep.

He remained in front of the field until the eighth, when Masterton shearer Paerata Abraham hit the front and, shearing at a consistent pace of a little over 40 seconds a sheep, stayed there till the end, finishing in 15min 43.88 seconds.

Unfortunately for Abraham the quality of his shearing did not match his speed.

Third place went to near-perennial beaten finalist, Invercargill shearer Nathan Stratford, despite being last to finish, in 16 min 57.959sec.

Fourth was first-time finalist Hemi Braddick of Eketahuna, with Abraham fifth and four-time winner John Kirkpatrick coming in sixth.

Capping three days of a fever-pitched return of the iconic event after two years of pandemic cancellations, and taking a break from driving his tractor in the Hawke’s Bay cyclone recovery, Smith won the right to represent New Zealand at this year’s Golden Shears World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in Scotland in June.

In Scotland, he will be chasing a third world title, having won in 2014 and 2017. Amongst his toughest opposition will be his brother, Matt Smith, now representing England.

Joel Henare, from Gisborne but living with his three children in Motueka, justified hot TAB favouritism to win a ninth-consecutive Golden Shears Open wool handling title by a wide margin from runner-up Keryn Herbert, of Te Kuiti.

Henare was unavailable for world championships selection, leading to a thrilling contest as four others fought out a team selection final.

The two positions were claimed by Candi Hiri, of Gore and Ngaio Hanson, of Eketahuna. With less than a point covering the first three places, Foonie Waihape, of Alexandra was desperately unlucky to miss selection.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand shearing team of southern trio Stratford, Stacy Te Huia and Leon Samuels staged an amazing comeback to win a trans-Tasman shearing test against Australian visitors Daniel McIntyre, Nathan Meaney and Sam Mackrill.

The Senior woolhandling title was won by Rahera Kerr, of Hauturu, the Senior shearing final by Clay Harris, of Piopio, and the Intermediate shearing final by Will Sinclair, of Balclutha.

In the woolpressing, Masterton’s Goodger brothers again battled for the men’s singles title, with Jeremy scoring a 14th win, claiming the title back from brother Vinnie, winner four times in a row from 2017 to 2020.

The women’s title was won for the first time by Savannah King, of Eketahuna, beating eight-times winner Fiona Healy in the final.