Aria - Shearing In The Rain

A bit of rain never hurt anyone was much the motto as almost 50 shearers and woolhandlers helped make sure one of New Zealand’s longest-established shearing competitions went ahead on a remote central North Island domain on Sunday.

One of only a handful of shearing sports competitions which have not been cancelled this year, the Aria Waitangi Day Sports Shears, which date back to at least the mid-1950s – pre-dating the Golden Shears – were completed despite the heavy rain that took over in the early afternoon.

As the rain continued and the day turned to its prizegiving attention turned almost as much the progress of the varying winners making their way treacherously down the slippery slope to the open-sided stage in anticipation the great tumble.

Most made it unscathed, which somehow told the story of the day, Te Kuiti farmer and champion woolhandler Keryn Herbert, who could only remember one or two competitions going ahead in anything like the same conditions in her 21 years of shows around the country, said: “It was commitment. No one was complaining about the rain. They just got on with it.”

Neither had anyone complained about the other conditions, now becoming normal at what few competitions are left. QR-code and vaccination-pass stuff in the rain at the gate. Scanning human beings on-farm, rather than the animals, after all, is not usual.

Competition convener and New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association chairman Mark Barrowcliffe was determined the competition would go ahead whatever it took under the Red-light provisions of the Government’s Covid-19 Protection Framework and was grateful for the support from what became mainly a King Country event.

He knew the day would go ahead, even when advance entries were light, and was confident enough to still stage a children’s event, with four shearers aged from six to 12 years, including Herbert’s daughter and son, Ngahuia and Rikihana Salmon.

The six-year-old was Rikihana Mason, who came with dad and Open-class shearer Matene Mason, from Masterton, where the boy goes to Fernridge School.

He’s a fourth or fifth generation in the family to pick up a handpiece, and, having cut his teeth on a sort of shearing industry phenomenon of watching dad all day in the woolshed and then practising all the blows and steps on his teddy bear, looked the part as his dad helped him along on Stand 1, at one stage looking back across his shoulder to see how the others were getting on.

After all, he is an experienced shearer. He was second last year, when he was five.

The youthfulness of some of the competitors, the rain, and the pandemic conditions tended to overshadow some of what else was going on.

Te Kuiti shearer Jack Fagan won the Open shearing final, cutting-out the 20 second-shear sheep in 16min 33sec, more than a sheep clear of runner-up and Southern Hawke’s Bay-based Scotsman Gavin Mutch, and highlighting that in the shearing record flock of Puketiti Station, at least something was in perfect condition.

Welsh shearer Phillip Price, from Powys, in his third season in New Zealand and working for King Country contractor Neil Fagan, won the Senior final, Keahrey Manson, of Piopio, won the Intermediate final, the Junior event was won by Tana Barrowcliffe, of Piopio, and the Novice grade was won by Stella Allen, of Taumarunui.

Herbert won the Open woolhandling title, the Senior winner was Vinniye Phillips, of Taumarunui, Tre Ratana Sciascia, of Feilding, added a Junior win to his first win at Rotorua just seven days earlier, and the Novice woolhandling event was won by Makayla Sarah, from Kawhia.

There was a winner of the children’s event, in Tana Maguire, of Piopio, and the judge’s all got something out of the day – a soaking.

With 41 of the scheduled 59 shearing sports competitions in the 2021-2022 season cancelled, no more than four remain. The competitions are: February 26 (Sat), Apiti Sports (shearing, woolhandling), at Apiti; March 12 (Sat), Mayfield A and P Show (shearing, blade shearing), at Mayfield; March 19 (Sat), Warkworth A and P Show (shearing only), at Warkworth; April 15-16 (Fri-Sat), Royal Easter Show (shearing only), at Auckland.

Results from the Aria Waitangi Day Sports Shears at Aria Domain on Sunday, February 6, 2022:

Shearing:

Open final (20 sheep): Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 16min 33sec, 56.6pts, 1; Gavin Mutch (Scotland/Dannevirke) 17min 55sec, 57.45pts, 2; Mark Grainger (Te Kuiti) 18min 7sec, 59.75pts, 3; Matene Mason (Masterton) 18min 7sec, 60pts, 4.

Senior final (10 sheep): Phillip Price (Powys, Wales) 10min 31sec, 37.75pts, 1; Cory Barrowcliffe (Piopio) 11min 2sec, 40pts, 2; Forde Alexander (Taumarunui) 10min 58sec, 42.1pts, 3; Clay Harris (Piopio) 11min 57sec, 45.45pts, 4.

Intermediate final (6 sheep): Keahrey Manson (Piopio) 8min 17sec, 29.02pts, 1; Aidan Tarrant Piopio) 8min 29sec, 30.95pts, 2; Taelor Tarrant (Piopio) 8min 50sec, 32.33pts, 3; Matthew Smith (Otorohanga) 9min 25sec, 34.08pts, 4.

Junior final (4 sheep): Tana Barrowcliffe (Piopio) 8min 49sec, 36/2pts, 1; Sam Parker (Raglan) 9min 36sec, 41.3pts, 2; Cody Lambert (Palmerston North) 11min 22sec, 44.1pts, 3.

Novice final (1 sheep): Stella Allen (Taumarunui) 2min 57sec, 27.85pts, 1; Te Anna Phillips (Taumarunui) 4min 39sec, 27.95pts 2.

Woolhandling:

Open final: Keryn Herbert (Te Kuiti) 48.644pts, 1; Azuredee Paku (Masterton) 79.75pts, 2; Chelsea Collier (Masterton) 83.132pts, 3.

Senior final: Vinniye Phillips (Taumarunui) 66.18pts, 1; Te Anna Phillips (Taumarunui) 74.38pts, 2; Lee George (Hamilton) 81.66pts, 3.

Junior final: Tre Ratana Sciascia (Feilding) 49.03pts, 1; Alisha Te Huia (Marton) 49.794pts, 2; Atiria Barrowcliffe (Piopio) 59.87pts, 3.

Novice: Makayla Sarah (Kawhia) 45pts, 1; Sid Baker (Piopio) 63.06pts, 2; Ngahuia Salmond (Te Kuiti) 68.63pts, 3.

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