All In The Family At Manawatu Show Shears

Some sort of history was set when Masterton brother and sister Joseph Gordon and Cushla Abraham won the Open shearing and woolhandling finals respectively at the Manawatu and West Coast A and P Show in Feilding on Saturday.

But there was even more for the 24-year-old Joseph Gordon who, in his first season in Open class, just his fourth Open competition and his first Open final, also formed a quinella with older brother David.

Just 0.3pts separated the pair after a four-man final of 20 short-wool hoggets, with third place going to Eketahuna shearer Hemi Braddick, who had the fastest time. Fourth place went to Murray Henderson, an orgsaniser of the competition and a former Golden Shears Open finalist now extending his place in the wool industry as a flooring specialist.

Both Cushla Abraham and David Gordon are current New Zealand representatives but the performances on the day, the resurrection of the Manawatu competition after an absence of three years, were a sign of a changing of the guard.

Of the 11 entries in the Open shearing, only 3 had previously won Open titles, with only 5 wins between them, and there had been a similar success rate among the 14 in the Open woolhandling.

Gordon last year reached 10 Senior finals and scored 2 wins, despite the domination of the grade by second brother Adam, who was No 1-ranked Senior nationwide in a season in which both shore in the Golden Shears Senior final.

Scraping into the final, with just 0.1pts between in or out, and with wife Shyla and children Kawariki and Kaihatu in the audience, Gordon said just wanted to shear she as well as he could, and when he finished he was he was satisfied he’d achieved that goal, the quality being more than enough to overcome any time-points deficit, with Braddick having finished almost a minute quicker.

Current form ruled in other shearing grades, with Taumarunui shearer Forde Alexander adding the Senior title to a victory at the Hawke’s Bay Show’s Great Raihania Shears, Gisborne farmer Dylan Young making it three following Gisborne and Hastings wins, and Kaivah Cooper, of Napier, continued an unbeaten run in Junior shows after victories at Gisborne, Hastings and the Wairarapa show in successive weeks.

The Novice shearing final was won by Tatijana Keefe, who was also runner-up in the Senior woolhandling final to Napier-based Te Whetu Brown.

Saturday’s Junior woolhandling final was won by Napier youngster Waiari Puna, and the Novice final was won by Georgia Rata, of Taumarunui.

Top shearers who were missing from the event weren’t all taking the weekend off, with at least five North Island shearers being in West Australia competing in the Mundijong Quick Shear, in the outer suburbs of Perth, and where Jack Fagan, of Te Kuiti, won the first prize of $A15,000.

There were 74 entries across all grades, comprising 40 in the five shearing classes and 34 in the 4 woolhandling classes. Keefe had already won a Senior woolhandling title this season, at Hastings.

Results of the Manawatu A and P Show shearing and woolhandling championships at Feilding on Saturday, November 3, 2023:

Shearing:

Open final (20 sheep): Joseph Gordon (Masterton) 18min 23sec, 63.45pts, 1; David Gordon (Masterton) 17min 59sec, 63.8pts, 2; Hemi Braddick (Eketahuna) 17min 28sec, 64.45pts, 3; Murray Henderson (Halcombe) 19min 32sec, 66.4pts, 4.

Senior final (12 sheep): Forde Alexander (Taumarunui) 12min 35sec, 46.6667pts, 1; Laura Bradley (Woodville) 13min 1sec, 47.9667pts, 2; Bruce Grace (Wairoa) 13min 15sec, 49pts, 3; Daniel Seed (Woodville) 12min 56sec, 55.8pts, 4.

Intermediate final (6 sheep): Dylan Young (Gisborne) 7min 17sec, 29.6833pts, 1; Tini Papanui (Feilding) 7min 29sec, 32.95pts, 2; Chayden Winiana (Nuhaka) 7min 50sec, 35.8333pts, 3; Tim Dickson (Hunterville) 8min 20sec, 37pts, 4.

Junior final (4 sheep): Kaivah Cooper (Napier) 8min 13sec, 35.15pts, 1; Marshall Buckman (Apiti) 9min 32sec, 39.85pts, 2; Lachie Cameron (Kimbolton) 10min 55sec, 42.25pts, 3; Gevo Hughes (Taumarunui) 8min 3sec, 51.15pts, 4.

Novice final (2 sheep): Tatijana Keefe (Raupunga) 6min 25sec, 34.25pts, 1; George Peacock (Dannevirke) 6min 20sec, 35.5pts, 2; Camden Bolton (Woodville) 6min 20sec, 39pts, 3; Waiari Puna (Napier) 7minn 4sec, 42.7pts, 4.

Woolhandling:

Open final: Cushla Abraham (Masterton) 255pts, 1; Nova Kumeroa (Mataura) 279pts, 2; Logan Kamura (Marton) 284pts, 3; Ngaio Hanson (Eketahuna) 301.8pts, 4.

Senior final: Te Whetu Brown (Wairoa/Napier)210pts, 1; Tatijana Keefe (Raupunga) 221pts, 2; Vinniye Phillips (Taumarunui) 251pts, 3; Amy Bell (Weber) 269pts, 4.

Junior final: Waiari Puna (Napier) 112.4pts, 1; Rahera Lewis (Taihape) 122.6pts, 2; Mere Maraki (Flaxmere) 129pts, 3; Kelly Barrett (-) 146.6pts, 4.

Novice final: Georgia Rata (Taumarunui) 100pts, 1; Kaivah Cooper (Napier) 102pts, 2; Cory Barrowcliffe (Piopio) 136pts, 3; Piata Braddick (Eketahuna) 161pts, 4.

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