The Open woolhandling final provided a 59th career Open win for reigning New Zealand Shears and North Island Circuit champion Keryn Herbert, of Te Kuiti.
The Great Raihania Shears' new Colin Watson-Paul Stand at the Hawke's Bay A and P Show in Hastings was launched in World-class fashion with New Zealand champion Toa Henderson's win when just reaching the final was a special challenge all of its own.
The first nine in the race to make the top six for the final, of the fifth leg of the Shearing Sports New Zealand 2026 World championships machine shearing selection series, were separated by just 0.55 points.
Northland shearer Henderson, now the winner of four of the legs and a warm favourite to be in the team for the World championships in Masterton on March 4-7, flew from Auckland for the day, and, from a field of 28, was the only finalist who has not been a World record holder.
It guaranteed a quick pace, with Henderson the only shearer to go under 16 minutes for the 20 woolly hoggets, his 15m 57s beating next-man-off and Hawke's Bay-based Scotland international and former World champion Gavin Mutch by almost half-a-minute, with another 15 seconds back to World nine-hours lambshearing record holder Stu Connor, an English shearer also based in Hawke's Bay.
Connor ultimately had enough quality to claim second place overall, but Henderson had done enough to win, albeit by just 0.4pts.
Mutch was third, Southland legend Nathan Stratford, who had flown from Invercargill, was fourth, Hawke's Bay shearer and 2014 World champion Rowland Smith was fifth, and sixth was Te Kuiti shearer Jack Fagan, who had won an Open final a week earlier in Gisborne.
The Open woolhandling final provided a 59th career Open win for reigning New Zealand Shears and North Island Circuit champion Keryn Herbert, of Te Kuiti. Her second Open win, in 2005, was at Hastings, and she had last won the Hawke's Bay title in 2011.
The winner of a World teams title for New Zealand in Wales in 2010, she's expected to compete for Cook Islands at the World Championships, having done so in Scotland two years ago.
Former New Zealand representatives Cushla Abraham, of Masterton, and Tia Potae, of Milton, were second and third, and Logan Kamura, of Marton, was fourth. Abraham was also the runner-up last year.
Napier shearer Kaivah Cooper had his first Senior shearing win, after 13 as a Junior in 2023-2024 and five Intermediate wins last season.
Michael Buick, of Pongaroa, won the Intermediate final, Ashlin Swann, of Wairoa, won the Junior final, and Charlie Kjestrup, from Southern Hawke's Bay, won the Novice event.
Maiden Elers, from Mataura, won the Senior woolhandling final, and Laura Bradley, from Papatawa, between Dannevirke and Woodville claimed the Junior win that will take her into Senior grade next season, and then also sheared her way into the Open shearing quarterfinal on her debut in the top grade with the handpiece.
Despite the absence of some competitors whose travel plans were disrupted by the windy weather, and with the Shearing Sports New Zealand team in Australia for Saturday's transtasman tests, there were 132 entries across the five grades of shearing and four of woolhandling.
There were 88 shearers (Open 28, Senior 9, Intermediate 13, Junior 20, Novice 18) and 44 woolhandlers (Open 17, Senior 10, Junior 17).
There were also 26 in Thursday's Secondary Schools' Shearing Challenge, in which all six finalists were shearers with experience in Novice or Junior finals last summer, including winner Alex Wrenn, of Feilding Agricultural High School.
The next competition in the North Island is the Wairarapa A and P Show's shearing and woolhandling championships next Sunday at Clareville, Carterton.
RESULTS from the Great Raihania Shears at the Hawke's Bay A and P Show, Hastings, on Friday, October 24, 2025:
Shearing:
Open final (20 sheep): Toa Henderson (Kaiwaka) 15m 57s, 57.8pts, 1; Stu Connor England/Hastings) 16m 39s, 58.1pts, 2; Gavin Mutch (Scotland/Dannevirke) 16m 25s, 58.4pts, 3; Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 18m, 59.05pts, 4; Rowland Smith (Maraekakaho) 18m 23s, 61.85pts, 5; Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 17m 59s, 63.4pts, 6.
Senior final (10 sheep): Kaivah Cooper (Napier) 11m 49s, 47.85pts, 1; Drey Roberts (Mataura) 12m 18s, 48.9pts, 2; Dylan Young (Gisborne) 12m 43s, 50.25pts, 3; Mark Ferguson (Elsthorpe) 12m 41s, 50.75pts, 4; Dalton Tangiwai (Pahiatua) 14m 49s, 53.95pts, 5; Atawhai Hadfield (Wairoa) 14m 33s, 56.75pts, 6.
Intermediate final (6 sheep): Michael Buick (Pongaroa) 9m 31s, 36.717pts, 1; Jodiesha Kirpatrick (Gisbone) 9m 44s, 37.7pts, 2;Lydia Thomson (Oxford/Hastings) 10m 31s, 41.217pts, 3; Sam Parker (Raglan) 8m 57s, 42.183pts, 4; Riley Norman (Eketahuna) 11m 20s, 44.833pts, 5; Mitch Nation (Waipukurau) 8m 54s, 53.367pts, 6.
Junior final (3 sheep): Ashlin Swann (Wairoa) 7m 27s, 32.35pts, 1; Alex Nicholson (Dannevirke) 7m 44s, 34.867pts, 2; Shawna Swann (Wairoa) 9m 15s, 35.417pts, 3; Cam Bolton-Smith (Pahiatua) 7m 25s, 36.25pts, 4; Tawharangi Aranui (Martinborough) 6m 47s, 36.683pts, 5; Bruce Anderson (-) 9m 30s, 36.833pts, 6.
Novice (1 sheep): Charlie Kjestrup (Pongaroa) 4m 50s, 22.5pts, 1; Waimarama Armstrong (Taharoa 4m 58s, 25.9pts, 2; Tahu Hauiti (Dannevirke) 3m 44s, 26.2pts, 3; Hinepurotu Hauiti (Dannevirke) 4m 27s, 27.35pts, 4; T Brickell (-) 4m 47s, 27.35pts, 5; Campbell Ellingham (Hastings) 4m 17s, 27.85pts, 6.
Secondary Schools Challenge: Alex Wrenn (Feilding AHS) 26.23pts, 1; Waiari Puna (Napier BHS) 28.73pts, 2; Mac Foreman (Feilding AHS) 29.5pts, 3; Ashlin Swann (Wairoa College) 34.21pts, 4; Deacan Mullins-Henry (Napier BHS) 34.81pts, 5; Hunter Wigglesworth (Feilding AHS) 35.61pts, 6.
Woolhandling:
Open final: Keryn Herbert (Te Kuiti) 91.162pts, 1; Cushla Abraham (Masterton) 102.458pts, 2; Tia Potae (Milton) 117.836pts, 3; Logan Kamura (Marton) 120.712pts, 4.
Senior final: Maiden Elers (Mataura) 88.276pts, 1; Jodiesha Kirkpatrick (Gisborne) 91.988pts,2; Tre Ratana Scia Scia (Feilding) 111.1pts, 3; Ashleigh Mei (-) 156.95pts, 4.
Junior final: Laura Bradley (Woodville) 90.15pts, 1; Leah Tamainu (Nuhaka) 93.394pts, 2; Jade Hkiwai (Dannevirke) 99.968pts, 3; Caitlyn Murphy (Pongaroa) 127pts, 4.