Isabelle Joiner claimed the Golden Shears novice woolhandling title. She is the first Canadian winner at the event in 38 years.
The international impact was felt early at the 2026 Golden Shears in Masterton, with three lower-grade titles on the opening day claimed by competitors from the Northern Hemisphere, even before the drawcard World Championships had begun.
The triumphant visitors were Joseph Scahill, of Westport, in County Mayo, western Ireland, and Welsh youngster Steffan George, from Aberystwyth, who won the intermediate and junior shearing finals respectively, and Isabelle Joiner, from Calgary, Canada, who won the novice woolhandling title.
All entered as individuals and were not members of the national teams who are set to start their campaigns today.
It was particularly close for George, who won by just 0.144 points from runner-up and regular junior finalist Sean Dunne, of Wicklow, Ireland.
The most ebullient was 24-year-old Joiner, who came to New Zealand nine months ago, having never heard of Golden Shears and on a mission to “immerse” herself in the industry as part of university study ambitions, specialising in natural fibres.
She googled “wool jobs” in New Zealand and arrived last May to start working in the South Island. By October, she was competing at Alexandra and Waimate, finishing fifth on both occasions.
Heading home next week and hoping to return later in the year, Joiner is the first Golden Shears woolhandling champion from the Northern Hemisphere.
She is also the second Canadian to win in either woolhandling or shearing at the Golden Shears, with Fiona Nettleton having won the junior shearing title in 1988.
Of her first time at the Golden Shears, Joiner said, “I had never heard of it.
“My friend said, ‘Izzy, you want to have the full New Zealand experience, right? You have to come to Golden Shears … Actually, it’s cheaper to just compete.’”
Scahill had been in good form in regional competitions leading up to the Shears and became only the second from the Republic of Ireland to win a Golden Shears title in Masterton, where the event is in its 64th year.
The first was David Kingston, of Cork, in the junior shearing final in 1998.
Scahill, 21, won by 0.401 points from runner-up Tamati Dennison, of Kurow.
The novice shearing had its own part in some history-making, with three girls among the six finalists, and one of the other three being Tsenden-Ish Jargalsaikhan, the first Mongolian shearer to make a Golden Shears final.
The title was won by Napier Boys’ High School pupil Sam Lawson, a farmer’s son from Ongaonga, making it a double for the day after featuring in his school’s first Golden Shears Student Challenge victory.
He won by almost five points from runner-up Ngahuia Salmond, of Te Kūiti, heading the female trio who finished second, third and fourth.
In the senior woolhandling final, 25-year-old Lucy Elers, of Mataura, claimed the first South Island win by successfully defending the senior title she won last year, after winning the junior title the year before.
The junior woolhandling title was won by Leah Taimanu, from Nūhaka.
Elers, the daughter of Cook Islands World Championships representative Tina Elers, heads to work in Australia next week and will miss the New Zealand championships in Te Kūiti next month.
Of her success on Masterton’s War Memorial Stadium stage, she said: “It’s the big one, the fun one.”
Today starts with heats of the open woolhandling championship, with the first round of world championships blade shearing, woolhandling and machine shearing during the day.
Late in the day, there will be a Teddy Bear Shear for children, with mock-up handpieces and teddy bears doubling as sheep, an event all about the shearing blows the kids will have picked up from watching their dads and mums.
The annual Golden Shears Speed Shears will take place in the evening.
Masterton on March 4, 2026
Shearing
Intermediate final (8 sheep): Joseph Scahill (Mayo, Ireland) 10m 35.740s, 42.537pts, 1; Tamati Dennison (Kurow) 10m 51.350s, 42.938pts, 2; Mitchell Yates (Kimba, South Australia) 11m 04.900s, 43.365pts, 3; Tye Meikle (Ōamaru) 10m 37.570s, 43.878pts, 4; Zakaia Lewis (Gisborne) 11m 00.710s, 44.656pts, 5; Michael Buick (Pongaroa) 11m 16.330s, 46.566pts, 6.
Junior final (5 sheep): Steffan George (Aberystwyth, Wales) 8m 43.333s, 33.367pts, 1; Sean Dunne (Wicklow, Ireland) 8m 38.211s, 33.511pts, 2; Ashlin Swann (Wairoa) 9m 26.154s, 34.908pts, 3; Mac Foreman (Pahīatua) 9m 14.877s, 34.944pts, 4; Phoebe Monk (Masterton) 8m 53.851s, 35.293pts, 5; Trent Alabaster (Taihape) 8m 27.713s, 35.586pts, 6.
Novice final (2 sheep): Samuel Lawson (Napier Boys High School) 4m 39.858s, 25.993pts, 1; Ngahuia Salmond (Te Kūiti) 4m 45.685s, 30.784pts, 2; Maia Buick (Masterton) 7m 51.067s, 31.053pts, 3; Lexi Young (Gisborne) 6m 46.494s, 31.825pts, 4; Tsenden-Ish Jargalsaikhan (Sukhbaatar, Mongolia) 6m 22.106s, 35.105pts, 5; Riley Priest (Upper Hutt) 6m 55.230s, 41.762pts, 6.
Golden Shears MKM Originals Student Challenge (two sheep): Napier Boys’ High School No 1 Sam Lawson/Sam Whiteside) 23.93pts, 1; Lindisfarne College No 2 (Cooper Ellingham/Lachie Butler) 31.29pts, 2; Pukemiro (Oliver Selby/Riley Priest) 32.16pts, 3.
Woolhandling
Senior final (5 fleeces): Lucy Elers (Mataura) 132.419pts, 1; Tre Ratana- Sciascia (Taihape) 134.806pts, 2; Amy Bell (Dannevirke) 154.321pts, 3; Shyla Gordon (Masterton) 169.534pts, 4.
Junior final (4 fleeces): Leah Tamainu (Nūhaka) 51.363pts, 1; Waiari Puna (Napier) 57.670pts, 2; Caitlin Murphy (Pongaroa) 68.122pts, 3; Opal Ramsay (Pongaroa) 68.670pts, 4.
Novice final (2 fleeces): Isabelle Joiner (Calgary, Canada) 80.118pts, 1; Arcadia Jope (Eketāhuna) 85.951pts, 2; Katie Hauiti (Dannevirke) 88.461pts, 3; Roseen Crellin-Christian (Isle of Man) 121.844pts, 4.