NEW South Wales shearer Daniel McIntyre has retained the title as Australia’s top shearer for a fourth consecutive year at the Australian Shearing and Wool Handling Championships at Bendigo in a quick clean display.
McIntyre continued on from the Australian trans-Tasman machine shearing team’s victory at Bendigo on Friday last week, to win a very tight open national final against each state’s top contender on Saturday.
McIntyre, 41, won the national final by less than a point from his trans-Tasman team mate, Nathan Meaney from South Australia, who had earlier beaten McIntyre into fourth place in the Bendigo open final.
McIntyre has now won the national open title in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and this year, after the two-year COVID-enforced break in the championships.
After the trans-Tasman test, McIntyre said the sheep were hard shearing because of the wet weather.
“It makes them tighter underneath and puts a bit of mud on their legs and some had a bit of a break on the skin on the belly.”
He said hoped he had left enough in his tank for the open event on Saturday and the final point scores showed he had.
In the championship final to win a berth to represent Australia at the Golden Shears in Masterton, New Zealand, in March and at the 2023 world championships in Scotland, McIntyre scored the least board and outside penalties and was third to finish his six Merino sheep and six crossbred lambs in 18 minutes and 39 seconds. This gave him a total point score of 75.37 ahead of Meaney’s 76.45 points.
Victorian shearer Sam Mackrill was third with 78.27 points, ahead of New South Wale’s Jamie Boothman, first to finish in 17 minutes 53 seconds with 79.15 points. Tasmanian shearer Sam Byers was fifth with 80.78 and Vcitoria’s Josh Bone was sixth with 81.77 points.
It was fantastic to witness talent from so many shearers participating at Bendigo. All shearers and wool handlers who took part in such a high standard of shearing and wool handling were winners, including the shearers for the wool handlers who had a very tough line of sheep to shear in unison for the wool handling competition. From Daniel Macintyre, Australian open champion, to 15 year-old George Jacka from South Australia. Well done to all.