‘Southern blast’ at shearing champs
Invercargill shearer Leon Samuels is still buzzing after leading what’s been dubbed a ‘‘southern blast’’ by organisers of the New Zealand Shears shearing and woolhandling championships.
Samuels won the New Zealand Shears Circuit final before taking the New Zealand Shears Open Plate title, and leading the South Island team to their first interisland win on northern soil in 13 years.
‘‘Words can’t explain what I’m feeling,’’ he said yesterday after arriving back in Invercargill from the national competition held in Te Kuiti at the weekend.
Samuels, who had been making waves since winning the Otago open final 14 months ago, also became the first South Island shearer to win a crossbred final in the North Island in more than about 10 years, at the Aria Sports Day in February.
He credits his success to ‘‘a lot of good people who helped me out throughout the year,’’ including fellow Invercargill champion Nathan Stratford – who he said provided valuable knowledge and advice on gear selection.
Stratford joined Samuels in the South Island team, along with Brett Roberts, from Mataura, and woolhandlers Monica Potae, Joel Henare, and Pagan Karauria.
‘‘We had a pretty good team,’’ Stratford said, congratulating the Southland shearers and commenting on the ‘‘awesome effort from the younger guys who mixed it up with the big guys from the North Island’’.
It was a great result after the disappointment of the Golden Shears competition being cancelled earlier in the year because of Covid-19 restrictions, he said.
‘‘Everyone was still on edge about Covid, but it was awesome to have a big competition,’’ Stratford said.
Roberts agreed. ‘‘It was awesome to have a go after missing out,’’ he said.
He was chuffed with the South Island team’s historic North Island win, saying: ‘‘We’re just going to get better and better.’’
Karauria was another standout Southern shearer at the weekend, winning the New Zealand Open woolhandling title.
Waikaka shearer Braydon Clifford was named number oneranked senior shearer for the season, although he missed out on a place in the NZ Shears Senior final.
Lionel Taumata, of Gore, took second place in the NZ Shears Open Challenger competition, while Winton’s Gabriel Winders took third place in the NZ Shears Intermediate final.