Two blades shearers from South Canterbury will be straight into action as member of the the New Zealand transtasman shearing and woolhandling team with a test match against Australia at the Waimate Shears being held today and tomorrow.

Tony Dobbs, of Fairlie, and Tim Hogg, of Timaru, have been named in the seven-strong teams along with machine shearers Leon Samuels, of Roxburgh, Jack Fagan, of Te Kuiti, and Chris Vickers, from Shag Point, and woolhandlers Ngaio Hanson, of Eketahuna, and Pagan Rimene, of Alexandra, who will all contest test matches during the Australian national championships on October at the transtasmanseries 50th anniversary in Kattanning, West Australia, at Labour weekend.

The machine shearers and woolhandlers will then have test matches at the 2025 Golden Shears in Masterton.

This weekend’s test, in which Australia will be represented by Johnathon Dalla, of South Australia, and Andrew Murray, NSW, comes just a week after the completion of the team selection when Vickers and Rimene won their respective finewool titles in Alexandra last Saturday.

While there had been occasional transtasman clashes in the early years of the Golden Shears, the recognised annual home and away tests stated with a machine shearing match at Euroa, Vic.,in 1974.

Woolhandling and blades tests were introduced in later years.

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