Harnessing shear determination to succeed
Leon Samuels’ appetite to shear sheep has never waned.
Samuels is presently shearing in Central Otago but next week the 37-year-old will travel to the King Country to compete in the New Zealand Shearing Championships at Te Kuiti on April 8, 9 and 10.
‘‘There’s going to be a lot of stiff competition,’’ Samuels, of Invercargill, said.
With the Golden Shears cancelled in March because of Covid-19 restrictions, Samuels reckoned shearers nationwide would be ‘‘fizzing at the bit’’ to get back competing.
‘‘Everybody’s going to be on their A game.’’
Samuels will compete in the open section with fellow Southlanders Brett Roberts, Ringakaha Paewai and Nathan Stratford. The quartet would be in a group of at least 10 Southland shearers and wool handlers.
Raised in south Waikato, Samuels moved to Invercargill 23 years ago.
‘‘I grew up in the wool shed, and I’m still in the wool shed,’’ he said.
‘‘I try to shear as much as I can . . . I follow the sheep everywhere.’’
Samuels has competed throughout the country this season winning four competitions, including the Otago Shears at Balclutha and Gore Southern Shears.
Brett Roberts, 27, said it would be a ‘‘dream come true’’ if he won the open title at the New Zealand championships. He has competed at the event since a 15-year-old.
His competition wins this season have been at Pleasant Point and Tapanui. Roberts and fellow Southland shearer Ringakaha Paewai, 38, have been going to the New Zealand championships for more than 10 years.
Paewai is co-holder of an eighthour five-stand world record, set in Puketiti Station, Piopio, in the King Country in 2015.