Home

Click go the shears to reveal the skilled

Headshot of Bob Garnant
Bob GarnantCountryman
Tambellup shearer Damien Boyle shorn the cleanest in the open final to take out the champion title.
Camera IconTambellup shearer Damien Boyle shorn the cleanest in the open final to take out the champion title. Credit: Bob Garnant

Williams Gateway Expo shearing competition produced some top- gun results as some of the State’s best shearers drew out their hand piece for a battle on the boards.

Nine open shearers were part of the quality field during three qualifying heats, with four making the finals.

Shearing announcer Don Boyle had Tom Reed out in front throughout the 10 sheep shear-off, as the speedster clocked just over 17 minutes, with Jeff Banks 50 seconds behind.

Open shearer Luke Harding, of Boyup Brook, took a respectable second place in the battle on the boards.
Camera IconOpen shearer Luke Harding, of Boyup Brook, took a respectable second place in the battle on the boards. Credit: Bob Garnant

Reed, a career shed shearer, said he was at a 300 sheep per day pace. “The adrenalin was a sheer rush,” he said.

Almost a minute behind the top pace was Luke Harding followed by Damien Boyle, but judges were yet to calculate how clean they all shorn.

Proving speed is not every-thing, Damien’s clean shearing points, for which he is renowned, were good enough to earn him the champion title, with Harding just 1.35 points the difference in second spot.

This close match-up created a reverse one/two place-getting for Boyle and Harding after the latter shearer’s win at Wagin Woolorama in March.

Earlier during the competition, 15-year-old up and coming shearer Wayne Banks was impressive in the under-21 final, claiming the win against some handy rivals.

Don Boyle said it was very good to see the young ones coming up through the system.

“Wayne applied himself with quality work through the grading system and graduated from novice to winning an under-21 competition in less than a year,” he said. “Today, we saw some very good shearing competition aided by some quality local Williams Merino sheep.”

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails