Battle on to find two woolhandlers

South Island hopefuls after the Northern Southland Community Shears open final near Lumsden recently are fourth place-getter Cherie Collier, third-placed Cheri Peterson and the two leading series prospects, runner-up Joel Henare and winner Pagan Karauria. Photo: Barbara Newton

Among those in contention are reigning champion Joel Henare, who recently moved home to Gisborne after being based in the South Island, Keryn Herbert (Te Kuiti), Sheree Alabaster (Taihape) and Pagan Karauria (Alexandra).

The  successful woolhandlers for the six-strong Shearing Sports New Zealand team will be named at the Golden Shears in Masterton on March 2.

Two rounds remain in the South Island, at Balclutha on February 8-9 and Gore the following week, while there is a busy schedule of events in the North Island. The top four in each island will qualify for a semifinal which will be followed by a final on the last day of the Golden Shears.

The winner and runner-up will join blade shearers Tony Dobbs, of Fairlie, and Allan Oldfield, of Geraldine, and two machine shearers qualifying from the Golden Shears and New Zealand Championships open finals in Masterton and Te Kuiti respectively, in March.