Alexandra sisters Charis Morrell (left) and Pagan Rimene after their New Zealand quinella in the Warrnambool X-Bred Shears open wool handling final on Friday.

A CENTRAL Otago woolhandler whose dream was to beat her sister and mentor has done it in style with victory in the Australian crossbred wool handling championship open final at the Warrnambool X Bred Shears.

The win by 21 year-old Charis Morrell, from Alexandra, New Zealand, came last Friday was her first in open competition, and just sixth in any grade, with sister and New Zealand team member Pagan Rimene in second place, beaten by just 0.2 points.

Competition was tough, up against Australia’s best, in town for the Australian National Shearing and Wool Handling championships the next day.

But beating her sister was something she’s been wanting ever since she first competed at the age of 11, and was something she rated even better than competing for Switzerland at the 2017 World championships in Invercargill, and her third place this year’s World championships in Masterton.

“I’ve been waiting for the day I could beat my mentor,” she said.

“In my opinion, she is the best wool handler in the world.”

It also completed a New Zealand double, with Te Kuiti shearer Jack Fagan winning the Warrnambool X Bred Shears open shearing title, the two victories providing some triumph for the Kiwis after being on the receiving end of an Australian clean sweep in three trans-Tasman test matches during the day.

National circuit champion Fagan, Golden Shears Open champion Toa Henderson, of Kaiwaka, and New Zealand Merino champion Duncan Leslie, of Alexandra, were unable to master the Merinos in their test and were beaten by 34 points by Australians Daniel McIntyre, Sam Byers and Sam Bacon.

In a contest of 12 sheep each — six Merino wethers and six crossbred composite/romney ewes — Henderson was first to finish, in 17min 38sec, with Byers next in 17min 47sec.

McIntyre was next off in 17min 50sec, and claimed the best quality points, as Australia stretched its home-test record to 14 wins in a row since Zealand’s last win on the western side of the Tasman in 2010.

Asked what New Zealand could do to beat Australia on their home board, Fagan said: “We will have to trump them on speed.

“They will always have the quality, so the pressure will have to come from pace.”

Australians Rachel Hutchison and Alexander Schoff had a comfortable win in the wool handling test, beating the New Zealand team of Rimene and Ngaio Hanson, of Eketahuna, by 19.23 points.

It was a close thing in the blade shearing test in which Australians Johnathon Dalla and Daniel Rogers beat New Zealanders Allan Oldfield, from Geraldine, and Scott McKay, of Clarence, by just 0.65 points.

New Zealand had won their home legs of the wool handling series at the Otago Shears and the machine at the Southern Shears in Gore in February, while in the blade shearing Australia was going back-to-back after winning in Waimate last month, although it has won just three of the blade shearing tests on either side of the Tasman in the last 17 years.

At the world championships, Morrell represents Switzerland, the native country of mother and teammate Gabriela Schmit-Morrell; first appearing at the championships in 2017.

Like sister Pagan, she has learnt to shear, and has had one novice shearing win, to go with three junior wool handling wins on lambs, and senior wins in a New Zealand Woolhandler of the Year final at the Otago Shears and at the New Zealand Spring Shears in Waimate.

She competed at the Geelong show in mid-October, without success, but scraped into the final at Warrnambool as the last of six qualifiers, and was excited to be competing against her sister for the first time in a final.

Daughters of former New Zealand representative shearer Dion Morrell, they’re also business partners, operating a crutching trailer in Central Otago, and both are currently working in Australia. Charis is working for contractor Atawhai Hauraki, based in Hamilton, Victoria, about 100km north-west of coastal Warrnambool.

In the open shearing final, Fagan and Henderson were the only shearers to cut under 15 minutes for the 16 sheep, Henderson finishing in 14min 52sec and winning the race by three seconds.

The winner of the New Zealand Shears Open final in Te Kuiti in April and the French Open two months ago, Fagan has now had 35 open final wins.

McKay was first to finish the blades final of four sheep each but had to settle for second place to Dalla, while teammate Oldfield, who is now based in Australia was placed fourth.

Results:

Trans-Tasman shearing test (12 sheep): Australia (Daniel McIntyre 17m 50s, 75.25pts; Sam Brers 17m 47s, 76.52pts; Sam Bacon 18m 56s, 85.05pts) 236.82pts, beat New Zealand (Toa Henderson 17m 38s, 83.4pts; Jack Fagan 20m 42s, 87.68pts; Duncan Leslie 20m 58s, 99.73pts).

Trans-Tasman blades test (4 sheep): Australia (Daniel Rogers 13m 21s, 52.55pts; John Dalla 14m 10s, 59pts) 111.55pts, beat New Zealand (Allan Oldfield 13m 14s, 53.7pts; Scott McKay 12m 55s, 58.5pts).

Trans-Tasman wool handling test (8 fleeces): Australia (Rachel Hutchison, Alexander Schoff) 46.4pts, beat New Zealand (Ngaio Braddick, Pagan Rimene) 65.63pts.

Australian Crossbred Championships:

Open shearing final (16 sheep): Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti NZ) 14m 55s, 55pts, 1; Daniel McIntyre (Glen Innes NSW) 16m 6s, 56.43pts, 2; Jeremy Newberry (Guyra NSW) 16m 50s, 59.81pts, 3; Brandon Waters (Warramboo SA) 15m 17s, 60.1pts, 4; Jamie Boothman (Crookwell NSW) 16m 22s, 64.48pts, 5; Toa Henderson (Kaiwaka NZ) 14m 52s, 66.29pts, 6.

Open blades final (4 sheep) John Dalla (Warooka SA) 12m 26s, 46.8pts, 1; Scott McKay (Clarence NZ) 11m 20s, 50pts, 2; Daniel Rogers (Telangatuk East Vic) 12m 37s, 51.35pts, 3; Allan Oldfield (Geraldine/Melbourne) 12m 45s, 52.75pts, 4; Andy Murray (NSW) 14m 25s, 56.75pts, 5; Nicki Guttler (Riverina NSW) 18m 37s, 73.1pts, 6.

Open woolhandling final (6 fleeces): Charis Morrell (Alexandra NZ) 30.83pts, 1; Pagan Rimene (Alexandra NZ) 31.03pts, 2; Marlene Whittle (Mayborough Vic) 31.23pts, 3; Jacinta Blackburne (Woodstock NSW) 37.07pts, 4; Jo Maki (Warrnambool Vic) 38.77pts, 5; Ashley McConnon (Sunbury Tas) 41.3pts, 6.