Flying Roberts Wins Shears In Ashburton, And Leaves For Aussie

Southland shearer Brett Roberts was truly the flyig Kiwi as he returned to the winner’s circle in winning the Open shearing final at the Ashburton A and P Show on Saturday.

Also first to finish, shearing the 20 sheep in 19min 16sec, he was barely off the stage at the end when he was on his way to Christchurch and flying to Australia for six weeks' work.

It was his third win in the event, having won the final also in 2019 and 2021, and he was runner-up to fellow South Island shearer Nathan Stratford last season, which he ended with just one win, despite reaching 12 finals. He had won at Mayfield in March.

Crossing the Tasman he will miss such events as next weekend’s Get to the Point Pleasant Point Shears and the November 14-15 Canterbury Shears New Zealand Corriedale Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in Christchurch.

On Saturday he kept-out runner-up and Oamaru shearer Justin Meikle by just four seconds in a final of 20 sheep each and had the better quality points to win by 1.2pts, while just a further 0.1pts way in third place was Ant Frew, of Pleasant Point, who had clearly the best quality points overall.

Fourth was Lionel Taumata, of Gore, returning to the South Island after reaching a final at the Great Raihania Shears in Hawke’s Bay on October 25, and fifth was Taare Edwards, of Ashburton.

Meikle, who won the Ashburton Intermediate final in 1993 and Open final in 2003, won at Ellesmere a fortnight ago on a comeback trail sparked by following teenage son Tye Meikle starting out in the competition scene.

As he did at Ellesmere, Meikle watched his 16-year-old take the Junior final, this time with a margin of more than 6pts, from Holly Crombie, from Te Anau.

The Senior final was won by Cheviot shearer Liam Norrie, who won the Junior final at Ashburton in 2016, and the Intermediate final went to Mataura shearer Caleb Brooking, beating first-time finalist Isaak Cleland, of Oamaru.

Tony Dobbs, of Fairlie, returned from the previous weekend’s Transtasman blades shearing test-match win at Katanning, West Australia, to make it three-from-three in individual finals this season, after winning at the Waimate Spring Shears on October 12 and in the Katanning Shears Open blades final.

Mike McConnell, of Christchurch, won the race over four sheep each but had to settle for second place, second Transtasman test-team member Tim Hogg, of Timaru, was third, Phil Oldfield, of Geraldine, was fourth, and fifth was veteran England representative George Mudge.

Dobbs, McConnell, Hogg and Mudge had all shorn in the Katanning Shears blades final.

The Ashburton show attracted 44 shearers, with 14 in the Open class.

Results from the Ashburton A and P Show Shears on Saturday, November 2, 2024:

Open final (20 sheep): Brett Roberts (Mataura) 19m 16s, 66.7pts, 1; Justin Meikle (Oamaru) 19m 20s, 67.9pts, 2; Ant Frew (Pleasant Point) 21m 8s, 68pts, 3; Lionel Taumata (Gore) 20m 50s, 72.15pts, 4; Taare Edwards (Ashburton) 22m 38s, 77.2pts, 5.

Senior final (8 sheep): Liam Norrie (Cheviot) 11m 38s, 43.53pts, 1; Aidan Tarrant (Taumarunui) 10m 47s, 44.23pts, 2; Jack Gordon (Timaru) 11m 48s, 45.9pts, 3; Dre Roberts (Mataura) 11m 25s, 49.13pts, 4; Cody Waihape (Gore) 11m 53s, 50.03pts, 5.

Intermediate final (5 sheep): Caleb Brooking (Mataura) 7m 42s, 30.1pts, 1; Isaak Cleland Oamaru) 7m 59s, 30.75pts, 2; Myles White (Waimate) 8m 42s, 35.9pts, 3; Aaron Christensen (-) 8m 21s, 36.05pts, 4; Ella Caves (Christchurch) 7m 45s, 38.65pts, 5.

Junior final (3 sheep): Tye Meikle (Oamaru) 6m 34s, 33.7pts, 1; Holly Crombie (Te Anau) 8m 13s, 40.32pts, 2; Emilia Meiling (Tjelta, Norway) 6m 52s, 42.6pts, 3; Jonty Unahi (Winton) 5m 47s, 43.35pts, 4; Jess Rose Toa (Ashburton) 10m, 56pts, 5.

Blades (4 sheep): Tony Dobbs (Fairlie) 13m 12s, 47.1pts, 1; Mike McConnell (Christchurch) 13m 4s, 50.7pts, 2; Tim Hogg (Timaru) 13m 50s, 53.25pts, 3; Phil Oldfield (Geraldine) 14m 6s, 55.3pts, 4; George Mudge (England) 15m 10s, 60.75pts, 5.

Local Open/Senior (5 sheep): Shaun Burgess (Rakaia) 6m 21s, 27.85pts, 1; Taare Edwards (Ashburton) 6m, 28pts, 2; Grant Smith (Rakaia) 5m 52s, 28.2pts, 3; Alex Smith (Rakaia) 6m 32s, 29.8pts, 4; Phoenix Hawkins (Ashburton) 5m 47s, 35.35pts, 5.

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