Shearer changes focus

Masterton's iconic sporting event, the Golden Shears, won't be quite the same in 2012.

Missing from the entries in the open section will be Taranaki shearer Paul Avery, who has instead turned his attention to endurance running and is focusing on the Coast to Coast one-dayer.

Avery, 44, has shorn in 16 of the 20 Golden Shears open finals from 1990 to 2009, winning in 2005 and 2007 and finishing runner-up on four occasions.

He has also won three New Zealand Open finals and five North Island Shearer of the Year titles - all in Te Kuiti - and in 1998, he attended his first world championships in Ireland where he was second in the final to King Country great David Fagan.

He did, however, combine with Fagan to win the teams events.

A decade later and Avery was back at the world championships again and this time, he was the victor in both the individual and teams events.

Three times Avery has been awarded Shearing New Zealand's Bowen Trophy as the country's top-ranked open class shearer, while outside the sport, he was named Taranaki Sportsman of the Year in 2007.