World Champs Hopefuls Start Selection Series At Southern Shears

Most of New Zealand’s top shearers and woolhandlers are heading for the Southern Shears in Gore to start a year-long process to select New Zealand representatives for the 2026 Golden Shears World Championships in Masterton.

Record numbers have entered the shearing and woolhandling series’ with crucial points up for grabs in Gore tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday.

By Thursday morning Shearing Sports New Zealand had received 31 woolhandling entries and 27 from shearers, with points available at a selection of shows over the next 12 months leading to finals and confirmation of the team at the Rangitikei Shearing Sports in Marton next February.

The top qualifiers will win selection, joined by the winners of finals for the best of the rest.

It will complete a team of two woolhandlers, two machine shearers and the two bladeshearers, who started their selection series at Reefton on February 1, when top points were claimed by 2019 World Champions Tony Dobbs, of Fairlie, and Hutt Valley-based Allan Oldfield, from Geraldine.

Woolhandling will dominate the first day of the Southern Shears starting with competition inn four grades from Novice to Open from 9am on Friday, and shearing in five grades from 7.30am on Saturday.

Open entries will be headed by the defending champions, Open woolhandling champion Pagan Rimene, of Alexandra, who won the New Zealand Woolhandler of the Year final at the Otago Shears last Saturday, and Open shearing champion Leon Samuels, of Roxburgh, who was last August acclaimed a Shearing Sports New Zealand Master Shearer.

Samuels will be joined by Nathan Stratford, of Invercargill, and Brett Roberts, of Mataura, in a South Island team for an inter-island match against the North Island team of David Buick, of Pongaroa, Toa Henderson, of Kaiwaka, and David Gordon, of Masterton.

Heading towards a 60th anniversary celebration next year, the championships also include the South Island Shearer of the Year final.

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