Southland shearer Leon Samuels became the first South Islander to win the Golden Shears open shearing title in 35 years in a dramatic six-man final of 20 sheep each in Masterton on Saturday night. 

Samuels was second in the race – the only shearer to get within a sheep of miracle-man and Wairarapa shearer David Buick, who shore the final in 16m 16.064s, one of the quicker times in the 62 years of the event. 

It was just two-and-a-half years after Buick was so badly injured in an accident on his Pongaroa farm the prognosis was that he might not even walk again. 

Ultimately it was a Southland one-two, with 40-year-old Samuels winning by 1.258pts from runner-up and Riverton shearer Casey Bailey, in the final for the first time. 

Losing some points in judging of the sheep in the pens, Buick was a further 1.26pts back in third place, followed in order by Southland veteran Nathan Stratford, in his 12th Golden Shears open final, first-time championship finalist James Ruki, of Te Kuiti, and 2015 winner and Hawke’s Bay-based Scotland international Gavin Mutch. 

Samuels, originally from Mangakino in the Central North Island but based in Southland or Australia for many years, had only one previous Golden Shears open final placing beforehand when he came third in 2020. 

However, he was the winner of the New Zealand Shears open final in Te Kūiti last April and thus a member of the New Zealand team at the World Championships in Scotland two months later. 

The last South Island shearer to win the open was Edsel Forde in 1989. Coincidentally, he was also the last from the South Island to win the New Zealand Shears open (in 1993). 

Among those in the crowd of about 1000 was Alexandra great Brian “Snow” Quinn, who won the Golden Shears open title six times between 1965 and 1972. 

Leon Samuels on his way to adding the Golden Shears open shearing title to the New Zealand Shears open title he won last year in Te Kūiti. Photo / Pete Nikolaison 

The drama started before the shears started, with eight-time winner Rowland Smith out with injury, and Northland gun and prolific winner Toa Henderson then eliminated in the quarter-finals. 

The pair and Samuels were quoted from the outset by the TAB as the most likely to win, Samuels making it a fifth win for the season. 

Golden Shears: PGG Wrightson National Shearing Circuit final 

Veteran Southkand shearer Nathan Stratford winning the PGG Wrightson Vetmed National Shearing Circuit for a third time. Photo / Pete Nikolaison 

Nathan Stratford won a third PGG Wrightson National Shearing Circuit final, with just a 0.355pts margin to Samuels in second place, in another Southland quinella. 

It was Stratford’s 20th National Circuit final. 

On the night, he also shore his 18th transtasman test - a New Zealand team record - celebrated by joining with Samuels and Marlborough shearer Angus Moore in an all-South Island win over Australians Daniel McIntyre, Nathan Meaney and Josh Bone. 

But there were just 2.51pts in the test-match result, the closest margin in transtasman shearing tests since an Australian victory in Warrnambool, Victoria, in 2013, and New Zealand’s narrowest win since 2009. 

The first test in the annual home-and-away series was in Euroa, Victoria, in October 1974, and there have now been 71 tests, with Australia winning 38 and New Zealand 33, there having been no tests from 1984 to 1997. 

It was Stratford’s last test, so for Samuels, it was a proud moment to celebrate the win with his mentor. 

Golden Shears: Woolhandling 

Joel Henare, from Gisborne, was all class in winning a 10th consecutive Golden Shears open woolhandling title. Photo / Pete Nikolaison 

It also gave New Zealand a 2-0 weekend, after woolhandlers Tia Potae and Cushla Abraham won their match against the Australian woolhandling team of Marlene Whittle and Alexander Scholl on Friday night. 

Also on Saturday night, Joel Henare, 32, from Gisborne, won the Golden Shears open woolhandling title for a 10th time in a row, but with a narrow margin of just six points from Alexandra hopeful Pagan Rimene. 

Henare had stepped back from some competition this season to focus on his children in Motueka. 

Lucy Elers, of Mataura, added the Golden Shears junior woolhandling title to three other titles won in the South Island since mid January. Photo / Pete Nikolaison 

The North Island open woolhandling circuit final, carrying a place in the 2024-2025 New Zealand transtasman series team, was won by Keryn Herbert, of Te Kūiti. 

However, with Henare having represented Cook Islands at the 2023 World Championships in Scotland, the team position went to runner-up Ngaio Hanson, of Eketahuna. 

This is because, despite also having represented New Zealand at the World Championships in Scotland, Hanson was yet to win an open woolhandling final. 

The second woolhandling member of the transtasman team next season will come from the New Zealand Merino Shears final in Alexandra in October this year. 

The junior woolhandling title was won by Lucy Elers, from Mataura, who had already won three major titles in the South Island this year, at Lumsden (long wool), Winton (lambs) and Gore (second-shear). 

Keisha Reiri, from Masterton but based in Piopio, won the novice woolhandling title. 

Golden Shears: Taumarunui couple win senior shearing and woolhandling finals 

Taumarunui shearer Forde Alexander winning the Golden Shears senior shearing title. Photo / Pete Nikolaison 

Meanwhile, Taumarunui partners, shearer Forde Alexander and woolhandler Vinniye Phillips won the Golden Shears senior finals. 

The couple, who have a young son and daughter, had been consistent placegetters as they travelled the shows together, each managing two wins earlier in the season - Alexander at the Hawke’s Bay Show’s Great Raihania Shears in October and a fortnight later at the Manawatū show - but Phillips didn’t win until claiming the Taumarunui and Āpiti shears’ titles the previous Friday and Saturday. 

They will both be trying to make it a double-double at the New Zealand Shears in Te Kuiti next month, their last show before graduating to open-class next year, with Phillips joining her sister and 2020 Golden Shears junior woolhandling champion Te Anna Phillips. 

Taumarunui woolhandler Vinniye Phillips won the Golden Shears senior woolhandling title. Photo / Pete Nikolaison 

Alexander was second-off in the shearing final of 12 sheep each, six seconds behind leading Southland hope Nathan Bee’s 12m 30.431s, but had the best quality both on the board and in the pens to win by more than two points from eventual runner-up Gabriel Winders, of Invercargill. 

Bee had to settle for third place but with just 0.003 points separating the pair, he was still in the race for the minor money. 

Laura Bradley, of Papatawa, near Woodville, was a surprise elimination from the senior shearing, in the heats, but bounced back to win the women’s shearing event, becoming the first to hold the New Zealand Shears and Golden Shears women’s titles simultaneously. 

Golden Shears intermediate shearing final 

A close Golden Shears intermediate shearing final was won by Tini Papanui, of Feilding. Photo / Pete Nikolaison 

The intermediate shearing final, over eight sheep each, was always shaping as a close and open affair, and ended with just 0.98pts between first and fourth, the victory going to 27-year-old Feilding shearer Tini Papanui. 

Gisborne farmer and shearer Dylan Young won the race in 10m 0.938s, more than a minute quicker than 27-year-old Papanui, the next man off. 

Papanui was also just third-best on quality points but had the best combination to beat eventual runner-up Young by 0.545pts. 

Young had been just starting to emerge in competition shearing at the time of the 2023 Golden Shears, when he was fifth in the intermediate final, and this season had had just one win, at the Central Hawke’s Bay A and P Show in November. 

Golden Shears junior shearing final 

Napier teenager Kaivah Cooper continuing his march through the junior grade, adding the Golden Shears ribbon to 10 others from shearing during the summer. Photo / Pete Nikolaison 

Napier shearer Kaivah Cooper’s decision to drop out of school four years ago at age 16 might have seemed not the best of life choices, but he wasn’t going anywhere, other than to the top. 

After four years of tertiary education in the woolshed, mentored by 2017 World Champion and four-time Golden Shears Open Champion John Kirkpatrick, he claimed the ultimate reward – a Golden Shears junior shearing title. 

Cooper had been in near unbeatable form and won at Taumarunui, Apiti and Pahiatua on successive days during the last weekend before the shears. 

A former Napier Boys’ High School pupil, Cooper sheared his five sheep in 7m 37.755s to be first off the board and won the title by 1.663pts from runner-up and Hunterville shearer Orlando Ratima. 

The first five were North Island shearers, all beating top South Island contender Jet Schimanski, of Gore. 

Earlier in the championships Ashlin Swann, of Wairoa, won the novice shearing final. 

Results from the 62nd Golden Shears International Shearing and Woolhandling Championships 

Masterton, Thursday February 29, to Saturday March 2, 2024 

International 

Lister Transtasman Shearing (12 sheep – 6 Merino, 3 long wool, 3 second-shear): New Zealand (Leon Samuels 14m 53.94s, 65.28pts; Nathan Stratford 17m 3.02s, 67.568pts; Angus Moore 16m 19.76s, 67.821pts) 200.669pts, beat Australia (Daniel McIntyre 16m 11.08s, 65.554pts; Nathan Meaney 15m 30.34s, 65.6pts; Josh Bone 17m 35.94s, 71.464pts) 202.61pts. 

Transtasman Woohandling: New Zealand (Cushla Abraham, of Masterton/Tia Potae, of Kennedy Bay) 302.6pts, beat Australia (Marlene Whittle, of Coleraine, Vic/Alexander Schoff, of Chinchilla, Qld) 339.2pts. 

Shearing 

PGG Wrightson Vetmed National Shearing Circuit final (15 sheep – 3 Merino, 3 long strong wool, 3 Corriedale, 3 lambs, 3 second-shear): Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 17m 48s, 66.153pts, 1; Leon Samuels (Invercargill/Roxburgh) 16m 44.821s, 66.508pts, 2; Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 17m 36.462s, 67.023pts, 3; Paerata Abraham (Masterton) 16m 50.912s, 68.013pts, 4; David Gordon (Masterton) 18m 11.587s, 74.046pts, 5; Toa Henderson (Kaiwaka) 16m 45.366s, 75.868pts, 6. 

Bayley’s Golden Shears open final (20 sheep): Leon Samuels (Invercargill/Roxburgh) 16m 37.697s, 56.585pts, 1; Casey Bailey (Tiverton) 17m 18.856s, 57.843pts, 2; David Buick (Pongaroa) 16m 16.064s, 59.103pts, 1; Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 17m 41.91s, 59.596pts, 4; James Ruki (Te Kuiti) 18m 38.826s, 64.391pts, 5; Gavin Mutch (Scotland/Dannevirke) 17m 36.608s, 66.68pts, 6. 

Golden Shears senior final (12 sheep): Forde Alexander (Taumarunui) 12m 36.273s, 44.898pts, 1; Gabriel Winders (Invercargill) 13m 18.718s, 47.936pts, 2; Nathan Bee (Wyndham) 12min 30.431s, 47.939pts, 3; Bruce Grace (Wairoa/Napier) 14m 3.753s, 50.438pts, 4; William Sinclair (Balclutha) 13m 48.349s, 50.5pts, 5; Blake Crooks (Rangiora) 14m 4.408s, 50.72pts, 6. 

Trust House Golden Shears intermediate final (8 sheep): Tini Papanui (Feilding) 11m 7.542s. 41.002pts, 1; Dylan Young (Gisborne) 10m 0.938s, 41.547pts, 2; Ethan Fladgate (Kihikihi) 11m 31.51s, 41.576pts, 3; Emma Martin (Gore) 11m 47.137s, 41.982pts, 4; Tomo Glyn Davies (Wales) 11m 33.506s, 43.55pts, 5; Julian Karl (Traunstein, Germany) 11m 38.138s, 44.40pts, 6. 

Farmers Weekly Golden Shears junior (5 sheep): Kaivah Cooper (Napier) 7m 37.755s, 1; 30.688pts, 1; Orlando Ratima (Hunterville) 8m 27.023s, 32.351pts. 2; Lachie Cameron (Pohangina) 8m 6.148s, 32.507pts, 3; Thomas Marchant (Pokeno) 7m 50.896s, 35.545pts, 4; Marshall Buckman (Apiti) 7m 55.552s, 36.378pts, 5; Jet Schimanski (Gore) 9m 4.14s,41.207pts, 6. 

Cydectin novice final (2 sheep): Ashlin Swann (Wairoa) 5m 43.19s, 23.16pts, 1; Karl Schoff (Chinchilla, Queensland) 5m 52.881s, 27.644pts, 2; Ryan Craw (Coromandel) 5m 21.203s, 28.56pts, 3; Rebecca Dickson (Tikokino) 7m 27.019s, 29.351pts, 4; Grady Collis (Tauhoa) 6m 38.079s, 30.404pts, 5; Bugs Butler (Tikokino) 6m 44.53s, 30.726pts, 6. 

Abraham Shearing Women’s Invitation (six sheep): Laura Bradley (Papatawa) 7m 29.93s, 31.163pts, 1 Emma Martin (Gore) 8m 54.959s, 34.081pts, 2; Nicki Guttler (Australia) 9m 19.903s, 34.662pts, 3; Catherine Mullooly (Matawai) 8m 0.655pts, 34.7pts, 4; Danielle Mauger (Australia) 9m 43.13s, 36.823pts, 5; Alice Watson (Seddon) 8m 57.279s, 39.197pts, 6. 

Wairarapa-Moana Māori-Pākehā Teams (8 sheep per shearer): Adam Gordon (Masterton) and Corey Palmer (Dipton) 67.975pts, 1; Cory Barrowcliffe (Piopio) and Hugh De Lacy (Rangiora) 75.921pts, 2; Lionel Taumata (Gore) and Paul Robertson (Australia) 78.075pts, 3. 

Shearwell Data Regional Teams Challenge (3 long wool and four second-shear sheep): South Zone 4 (Brett Roberts, of Mataura; Nathan Bee, of Wyndham) 7m 55.377s, 29.198pts, 1; South Zone 2 (Hugh De Lacy and Blake Crooks, of Rangiora) 7m 58.086s, 29.904pts, 2; North Zone 2 (Tama Niania and Te Ua Wilcox, of Gisborne) 7m 50.986s, 30.406pts, 3; North Zone 3 (Jack Fagan, of Te Kuiti; Forde Alexander, of Taumarunui) 8m 8.372s, 31.276pts, 4; North Zone 4 (David Buick, of Pongaroa; Laura Bradley, of Papatawa) 7m 53.367s, 31.811pts, 5; South Zone 1 (Angus Moore and Alice Watson, of Blenheim) 8m 345.035s, 32.845pts, 6. 

MKM Student Shearing Challenge (2 sheep): Pukemiro Cadetship, Dannevirke (Ryan Craw/Grady Collis) 6m 17.828s, 23.391pts, 1; Smedley Station, Tikokino (Bugs Butler/Rebecca Dickson) 7m 25.251s, 28.763pts, 2; Napier Boys High School (George Prouting/Waiari Puna) 5m 41.137s, 35.05pts, 3; Feilding Agricultural High School (Abbey Grant/Mack Belton) 9m 22.634a, 37.132pts, 4; Palmerston North Boys High School (Ernie Fowler/James Bigham) 6m 10.987s, 49.049pts, 5; Growing Future Farmers (Brett Eastwood/Cameron Judd) 7m 6.189s, 52.809pts, 6. 

Speed shears 

Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa open final (1 sheep): Paerata Abraaham (Masterton) 17.789s, 1; Jimmy Samuels (Marton) 18.105s, 2; Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 19.204s, 3. 

Rabobank senior final (1 sheep): Forde Alexander (Taumarunui) 178.646s, 1; Nathan Bee (Wyndham) 19.623s, 2; Taelor Tarrant (Taumarunui) 20.849s, 3. 

Woolhandling 

Trust House open final: Joel Henare (Gisborne) 181.66pts, 1; Pagan Rimene (Alexandra) 187.9pts, 2; Tia Potae (Haratanga) 233.9pts, 3; Foonie Waihape (Alexandra) 302pts, 4. 

Te Puni Kokiri Golden Shears senior final: Vinniye Phillips (Taumarunui) 145.61pts, 1; Tira Ngarangione (Gisborne) 154.1pts, 2; Emma Martin (Gore) 156.818pts, 3; Rahera Kerr (Hauturu) 225.89pts, 4. 

WBS Golden Shears junior final: Lucy Elers (Mataura) 111.122pts, 1; Jodiesha Kirkpatrick (Gisborne) 117.286pts, 2; Kelly Barrett (Kawhia) 125.804pts, 3; Cally Spangler (Hobart, Tas) 136.3pts. 4. 

Paewai Mullins novice woolhandling final: Keisha Reiri (Masterton/Piopio) 165.84pts, 1; Gemma Buick (Pongaroa) 172.92pts, 2; George Whiunui (Napier) 193.92pts, 3; Gen Wood (Pongaroa) 278.46pts, 4. 

North Island Circuit open final: Keryn Herbert (Te Kuiti) 126.368pts, 1; Ngaio Hanson (Eketahuna) 140.636pts, 2; Cushla Abraham (Masterton) 144.408pts, 3; Ngaira Puha (Kimbolton) 155.53pts, 4. 

Wool pressing 

Farmlands Men’s final (170kg target): Vinnie Goodger (Masterton) 166kg, 34.75pts, 1; Jeremy Goodger (Masterton) 156.5kg, 32.6pts, 2. 

Farmlands Women’s final (150kg target): Cushla Abraham (Masterton) 150kg. 57.6pts, 1; Summer Pritchard (Pongaroa) 150.5kg, 61.8pts, 2. 

Farmlands Pairs (170kg target): Vinnie and Jeremy Goodger (Masterton) 166kg, 32.4pts, 1; Joseph and Shyla Gordon (Masterton) 160.5kg, 75.75pts. 

Triathlon (best heats points shearing, woolhandling and wool pressing combined): Jeremy Goodger (Masterton) 124.265pts, 1; Cushla Abraham (Masterton) 141.268pts, 2; Summer Prichard (Pongaroa) 146.224pts, 3; Vinnie Goodger (Masterton) 168.097pts, 4; Jodeisha Kirkpatrick (Gisborne) 179.198pts, 5; Ricci Stevens (Napier) 193.819pts, 6.