Top shearers set for fast-paced speed shearing at Southern Field Days
Organisers are expecting another full field of 40 of the country’s top shearers for the popular Speed Shearing event at this year’s Southern Field Days at Waimumu.
Hastings shearer Dion King and Tony Coster, of Rakaia, open the eight-test tour with a match against Scotland at the Lochearnhead Shears on Saturday.
But, with Coster available only for the first three matches, Fagan is stepping in for the second of two tests against England, and an annual four-test series against Wales. Fagan (53) had retired in April after 30 years on the open-class competition stage, bowing out with victory in the NZ Shears Circuit final in front of his home crowd.
While that event qualified him for a place in the team, he initially stuck to his guns and turned down the position, despite the pleadings of Welsh team manager Bill Jones who said that in Wales “David Fagan is like God – they love him over there.”
When NZ circuit runner-up Coster confirmed he would not be available for the whole tour, Fagan agreed to fill the gap, having already expected to be in the UK for shearing machinery giant Lister.
His return will be at the Great Yorkshire Show, where five years ago he won his 600th open-class title. He’s expected to attract capacity crowds in Wales, including as defending champion at the Royal Welsh Show, one of the biggest A&P shows in the world.
King, who at Te Kuiti claimed his place in the team with victory in the NZ Open Championships final, is determined to help NZ to its first Wales series victory in Wales since he was last in the team in the UK in 2011.
“But it’s an honour just to be in the team for David Fagan’s last blast,” he said.
