Mutch Holds It Together For Great Raihania Shears Win

It looked a bit painful, but nothing was too much for Dannevirke farmer Gavin Mutch as he added The Great Raihania Shears to a string of Open titles at the Hawke’s Bay A and P Show in Hastings on Friday.

Buckling his left leg as he got ready for the start of the four-man final over 20 sheep each, Scotland international Mutch held it together to outpace the opposition to beat fellow former World and Golden Shears champion John Kirkpatrick by 1min 46sec and with a healthy advantage in the shearing-board penalties count and won the showdown by a clear three points.

Third was Brook Hamerton, of Hastings, and fourth Lionel Taumata, of Gore.

In his 26th season in New Zealand since arriving in 1999 to win 12 finals and become the No 1-ranked Junior in his first summer down-under in 1999-2000, had only reached a final at the Hawke’s Bay show since the competition was revived in 2004, and named after Rimitiriu Raihania, who in 1902 won a Hawke’s Bay show title believed to have been the first machine-shearing competition in the World.

Friday’s win was Mutch’s 28th I Open competitions in New Zealand, but there have been some big wins in the 2012 World Championship and the 2015 Golden Shears Open, other national title events the national lambshearing championships at Raglan in 2007, the New Zealand Corriedale Championships in Christchurch in 2020, and the Waimate Spring Shears in 2022, and prominent A-grade title the Taihape A and P Show Open in 2021.

He’s also shorn in 10 Golden Shears Open finals, four New Zealand Shears Open finals, and final finals of the National Shearing Circuit, in which he is currently hunting-down a qualifying top 12 position in eighth place with 10 points after two rounds.

Laura Bradley, of Papatawa, also in Southern Hawke’s Bay, moved a step closer to becoming the first female to be promoted to Open class based on wins in Senior competition when she won the Senior final over eight sheep each.

Bradley won four Senior finals last summer and Friday’s effort included beating Bruce Grace, from Wairoa, who had started the season with a national Senior title at Waimate and a Gisborne show title in the previous fortnight, and John Cherrington, of Huntly, who had won at the Ellesmere A and P Show in Canterbury the previous Saturday.

Jasmin Tipoki, of Napier, had the biggest of her three wins in Open woolhandling, in crowning a day of successes for Napier-based family shearing operation Puna Shearing, with partner Paraki Puna winning the Open shearing plate, and workmate Te Whetu Brown winning the Senior woolhandling final.

It was a close call for Tipoki, a former No 1-ranked Senior who won by less than three points from 2022-2024 New Zealand representative Cushla Abraham, of Masterton, with third place going to defending Great Raihania Shears Open champion Ngaira Puha, of Kimbolton, and fourth to Marika Braddick, of Eketahuna.

Blake Mitchell, of Patea, won the Intermediate shearing final, and George Peacock, of Waipukurau, won the Junior final, with Gisborne’s Jodiesha Kirkpatrick the runner-up and also winning the Junior woolhandling final, all-but repeating a unique double she had claimed at her home show on October 19.

The competitions attracted 116 entries, comprising 76 in the shearing events and 40 in woolhandling. There were 25 in the Open shearing and 16 in the open woolhandling.

On Thursday, Napier Boys High School first fifteen rugby lock George Prouting won the 12th Hawke’s Bay show Secondary Schools Challenge, which attracted 25 teenagers and is the only event of its type in New Zealand. The competition included tuition from former World champion and multiple Golden Shears Open champion Rowland Smith and training guru Pete Chilcott.

With the Manawatu A and P Show Shears cancelled, the next competition in the North Island is the Wairarapa Spring Shears shearing and woolhandling championships at the Wairarapa A and P Show, at Clareville, Carterton, next Sunday.

With the Northern A and P Show’s Rangiora Shears cancelled at the weekend, the next competition in the South Island is the Ashburton A and P show next Saturday.

RESULTS from the Great Raihania Shears at the Hawke’s Bay A and P Show, Hastings, on Friday, October 25, 2024:

Shearing

Open final (20 sheep): Gavin Mutch (Scotland/Dannevirke) 16m 57s, 60pts, 1; John Kirkpatrick (Pakipaki) 18m 43s, 63pts, 2; Brook Hamerton (Ruawai/Hastings) 19m 23s, 66.25pts, 3; Lionel Taumata (Taumarunui/Gore) 19m 3s, 66.55pts, 4.

Open Plate (7 sheep): Paraki Puna (Napier) 7m 7s, 30.064pts, 1; Axle Reid (Taihape/Waipawa) 6m 59s, 32.236pts, 2; Whakapunake (Naki) Maraki (Flaxmere) 7m 13s, 35.221pts, 3; Cory Barrowcliffe (Piopio) 8m, 36.429pts, 4.

Senior final (8 sheep): Laura Bradley (Papatawa) 9m 36s, 36.55pts, 1; Jack Hutchinson (England) 9m 29s, 38.325pts, 2; Bruce Grace (Wairoa/Napier) 9m 34s, 38.95pts, 3; John Cherrington (Huntly) 10m 20s, 39.5pts, 4.

Intermediate final (4 sheep): Blake Mitchell (Patea) 5m 49s, 25.7pts, 1; Louie Coombe Gray (Waipukurau) 5m 25s, 25.75pts, 2; Jake Goldsbury (Waitotara) 4m 55s, 28.5pts, 3; Ryka Swann (Wairoa) 5m 24s, 28.7pts, 4.

Junior final (2 sheep): George Peacock (Waipukurau) 6m 18s, 31.9pts, 1; Jodiesha Kirkpatrick (Gisborne) 7m 42s, 38.1pts, 2; Ashlin Swann (Wairoa) 8m 35s, 39.75pts, 3; Tatijana Keefe (Raupunga) 9m 11s, 40.55pts, 4.

Novice (1 sheep): Rebecca Dickson (-) 4m 41s, 16.05pts, 1; Alex Wrenn (Feilding) 4m 33s, 16.65pts, 2; Dominie Chetwynd (Crickhowell, Wales) 3m 26s, 17.3pts, 3; Heidi Miller (-) 3m 30s, 19.5pts, 4.

Woolhandling

Open final: Jasmin Tipoki (Napier) 256.11pts, 1; Cushla Abraham (Masterton) 258.57pts, 2; Ngaira Puha (Kimbolton) 318.37pts, 3; Marika Braddick (Eketahuna) 346.45pts, 4.

Senior final: Te Whetu Brown (Wairoa/Napier) 129.32pts, 1; Whati Mihaere Turipa (Dannevirke) 167.584pts, 2; Tre Ratana Scia Scia (Taihape) 169.104pts, 3; Whakapunake (Naki) Maraki (Flaxmere) 192.048pts, 4.

Junior final: Jodiesha Kirkpatrick (Gisborne) 99.024pts, 1; Rahera Lewis (Taihape) 136.58pts, 2; Capree Wallace (Taihape) 137.634pts, 3; Kaylah Ferguson (Otane) 155.166pts, 4.

Secondary Schools Challenge final (2 sheep): George Prouting (Napier BHS) 6m 53s, 25.98pts, 1; Ashlin Swann (Wairoa College)) 8m 27s, 30.01pts, 2; Waiari Puna (Napier BHS) 8m 22s, 30.1pts, 3; Shawna Swann (Wairoa College) 9m 28s, 31.73pts, 4.

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