Shearing: Tararua families triumph at New Zealand Shears

Dannevirke cousins Hinepurotu Hauiti (left) and Tahupotiki Hauiti after their New Zealand Shears Novice titles double in Te Kūiti.

Two teenaged cousins working for the whānau shearing gang in Dannevirke scored a unique double by winning the novice titles, as the Tararua District ruled at the New Zealand Shears national shearing and woolhandling championships in Te Kūiti.

Tahupotiki (Tahu) Hauiti, 16, won the Novice shearing championship final on the opening day on Thursday, and 17-year-old Hinepuroto Hauiti won the Novice woolhandling final on Friday.

They work for family shearing operation Frontline Shearing, and with other whānau made a thing of travelling the competitions during the summer, in which Tahu Hauiti won the Novice final at the Central Hawke’s Bay A&P Show in November.

Before the New Zealand Shears, he had competed at four shows, but not the Golden Shears, missing the deadline for entries.

Additionally, Oliver Bambry, of Pahīatua, was runner-up in the Novice shearing class, and Woodville shearers Camden Bolton-Smith and Cam Henson were first and second respectively in the Junior shearing final, in which four of the six were from the area.

The Tararua triumphs also included Laura Bradley, of Papatawa, retaining the women’s shearing title, and the area’s successes culminated on Saturday night with a quinella in the New Zealand Shears Shearing Circuit, one of three Open-class shearing titles at the championships.

It was won by Scotland international Gavin Mutch, who farms near Dannevirke, and the runner-up was Hemi Braddick, of Eketāhuna, while third place went to Masterton shearer Paerata Abraham, who went through the lower grades and his earlier Open-class years while living in Dannevirke.

As a result of his placing, and beaten by just 0.238 points, Braddick claimed one of the two places in the New Zealand UK tour team.

Braddick joins new New Zealand Open champion Jack Fagan, of Te Kūiti, becoming the third member of the Braddick family to represent New Zealand in shearing sports in less than 12 months, following successes by two of his sisters.

Ngaio Hanson (nee Braddick) appeared in the home-and-away transtasman woolhandling tests during the summer, and Marika Braddick won a teams title for New Zealand at the World Championships during the Golden Shears in Masterton.

Doug Laing is a Hawke’s Bay Today reporter based in Napier, with more than 50 years in the news game, with more than 40 covering events and issues in Hawke’s Bay, with a specialised interest in shearing and woolhandling competitions and other rural sports.