Fagan follows in his dad’s footsteps
SHEARING: Jack gets the family name back on the honours board, writes
Te Kuiti shearer Jack Fagan realised another dream when he won the Canterbury Shears’ New Zealand Corriedale Open shearing championship at the NZ Agricultural Show in Christchurch on Friday.
The victory in a six-man final over 14 sheep each was his biggest of 13 show wins in eight years of open-class shearing, his first in the South Island, and got the family name back on to the honours board, after 13 wins in the event by father Sir David Fagan spanning 25 years from 1984 to 2009.
With almost seven weeks gone in the 2022-2023 Shearing Sports New Zealand season, the 12 open finals have now produced nine different winners, with five of them in the final at the Canterbury Shears.
Fagan has never shorn the coarsewoolled corriedales at work in the woolshed but looked comfortable in the final which he shore in 17min 4.75sec, second off the board behind only 2020 winner, Southern Hawke’s Bay farmer, Scotland international and former world and Golden Shears champion Gavin Mutch (16min 46.53sec).
But ultimately the biggest hurdle to overcome was the quality of reigning PGG Wrightson Vetmed National Shearing Circuit champion and Invercargill shearer Nathan Stratford, who finished in 18min 39.1sec and whose 4.36pts advantage in judging on the board and in the pens was not quite enough to overcome the time-points deficit and take the title for a fourth time.
Fagan beat Stratford by just 0.37pts, with Mutch third a further 0.8pts away.
Fagan had been just 11th in the heats, which doubled as the third round of the national circuit and which were headed by Marlborough shearer Angus Moore. Stratford claimed only seventh-place points from the heats but leads the series after maximum points in the first two rounds at Alexandra and Waimate.
The winner remained in the South Island to win the Waiau Rugby Club Speedshear in North Canterbury on Saturday, his 48th win in the shortform of shearing sports, but will shear the Taranaki Shears at the Stratford A&P Show on November 26, and is also working on the fitness ahead of
For years you get your ass kicked then one massive win makes up for it all. — Jack Fagan
a December 22 attempt on the eighthour strongwool lambshearing record of 744, set by Irish shearer Ivan Scott near Taupo almost 11 years ago.
His 13 show wins highlights the commitment of shearers in show competition, some never winning, regarding such things as reaching the Golden Shears Top 30 as the dream, and yet considered among the best shearers in the world.
Fagan’s shorn in about 160 open competitions, his best previous win having been in the Royal Welsh Open final in 2015, before he had won an open final in New Zealand.
In July this year he won the show’s international Speedshear.
“It’s the thrill of competing,” he said. “For years you get your ass kicked then one massive win makes up for it all. I get a buzz out of shearing against the top competitors in the world.”
Masterton shearer Matene Mason won Friday’s open plate, for shearers who’ve not won an open title, snd then along with at least seven other shearers and woolhandlers headed for the Central Hawke’s Bay A&P Show in Waiupukurau the next day.
England shearer Alex Clapham had his third win in a fortnight by claiming the senior title, South Otago shearer Will Sinclair won the intermediate final, and the junior final was won by Lydia Thomson, of Rangiora.
Open-grade shearer Sarah Hewson, of Blenheim, won the show’s first women’s shearing event, with second and third placings going to Emma Martin, of Gore, and Thomson, both winners of junior finals this season.
Former New Zealand world championships representative Mike McConnell, of Albury, bounced back to top form by winning the Golden Blades final, with 2019 world champion bladeshearing team members Allan Oldfield, from Geraldine, third and Tony Dobbs, of Failie, fifth.
The championships attracted 70 shearers, with 32 in the open class.
RESULTS
NZ Corriedale Shearing Championships at Christchurch (November 11).
Open final (14 sheep): Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 17min 4.75sec, 65.09pts, 1; Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 18min 39.1sec, 65.46pts, 2; Gavin Mutch (Scotland/Dannevirke) 16min 46.53sec, 66.26pts, 3; Hemi Braddick (Eketahuna) 17min 49.16sec, 66.6pts, 4; Hugh De Lacy (Rangiora) 18min 50.69sec, 69.53pts, 5; Brett Roberts (Mataura) 19min 4.36sec, 75.22pts, 6.
Open plate (10 sheep): Matene Mason (Masterton) 13min 33.68sec, 51.68pts, 1; Toko Hapuku (Methven) 15min 6.47sec, 54.72pts, 2; Lionel Taumata (Gore) 14min 36.93sec, 56.95pts, 3; Duncan Leslie (Owaka) 13min 59.38sec, 58.77pts, 4; David Gordon (Masterton) 13min 31.5sec, 59.16pts, 5; Brayden Clifford (Waikaka) 16min 48.25sec, 68.51pts, 6.
Senior final (8 sheep): Alex Clapham (England) 15min 28.69sec, 61.18pts, 1; Blake Crooks (Timaru) 15min
33.44sec, 62.42pts, 2; Adam Gordon (Masterton) 15min 25.38sec, 65.42pts, 3; James Wilson (Ryall Bush) 16min 24.32sec, 65.59pts, 4; Liam Norrie (Cheviot) 17min 21.19sec, 67.18pts, 5; Hemi Paniora (Rolleston) 18min 14.1sec, 68.83pts, 6.
Intermediate final (5 sheep): Will Sinclair (Balclutha) 12min 17.28sec, 50.26pts, 1; Jesse Sullivan (Harihari) 12min 24.93sec, 51.85pts, 2; Dre Roberts (Mataura) 12min 44.56sec, 53.03pts, 3; Jacob Taylor (Palmerston North) 11min 42.93sec, 55.15pts, 4; Cushla Abraham (Masterton) 13min 35.66sec, 60.98pts, 5; Justin Anderson (-) 12min 11.87sec, 61.39pts, 6.
Junior final (3 sheep): Lydia Thomson (Rangiora) 10min 30.44sec, 41.52pts, 1; Emma Martin (Gore) 10min
32.03sec, 42.27pts, 2; Caleb Brooking (Gore) 9min 59.44sec, 43.64pts, 3; Robin Krause (Germany) 11min 11.88sec, 47.26pts, 4; Cody Waihape (Mataura) 11min 8.59sec, 54.1pts, 5; George Taylor (-) 11min 30.41sec, 56.19pts, 6.
Women’s final (4 sheep): Sarah Hewson (Blenheim) 8min 58.35sec, 36.92pts, 1; Emma Martin (Gore) 12min 22.25sec, 43.11pts, 2; Lydia Thomson (Rangiora) 13min 32.82sec, 52.39pts, 3; Cushla Abraham (Masterton) 11min 42.97sec, 55.65pts, 4; Skye Herbert (Whakatane) 12min 16sec, 78.55pts, 5.
Blades final (5 sheep): Mike McConnell (Albury) 16min 57.13sec, 58.06pts, 1; Allen Gemmell (Loburn) 16min 21.81sec, 59.09pts, 2; Allan Oldfield (Geraldine/Lower Hutt) 16min 50.57sec, 59.93pts, 3; Scott McKay (Christchurch) 16min 54.22sec, 60.11pts, 4; Tony Dobbs (Fairlie) 18min 29.38sec, 64.07pts, 5; Peter Race (Rakaia) 17min 45.5sec, 64.68pts, 6.