Wingfield’s shearing practice makes perfect

Having worked in the shearing shed for 26 years, now even running his own business with his wife, Baldwin Shearing, Tocumwal, NSW, Mr Wingfield said his decades of experience helped him secure the title yet again.

“It takes dedication and hard work, if you don’t put time and effort into your day job, you’re not going to do very well in the competitions,” Mr Wingfield said.

“I practice in the sheds, and at the show don’t have to think about it too much.”

Normally shearing an average of 200 sheep a day, at competitions he tries to maintain efficiency, while doing the job thoroughly.

“Part of my strategy is to put pressure on the other guys by going faster, so they have to push to keep up, and hopefully make more mistakes,” he said.

Mr Wingfield will represent Victoria in the national competition in Perth, WA, later this year, and if successful there, he will represent Australia in the world championships in Paris in 2019.

He has won the national title two times, with the best he has ever done in the world competition coming ninth at Norway in 2008.

North Central Victorian Sport Shears Association president Noel Clarke said of the 100 entries into the competition, there was an impressive field of shearers.

“The competition just gets better every year, it showcases some of the best shearers in the world,” Mr Clarke said.

He said the shearing judges look for speed and quality.

“The shearing judges are watching the shearers take the wool off and if they make second cuts, they lose points,” he said.

“When the sheep goes out the back, there’s another judge to see if there’s any wool left on, and if there is, they lose points for that too.

“And there’s a speed involvement, they’ve got to be reasonably quick.”

He said it’s important to have the right balance.

“The fastest fella might not win, the quality points are better than the speed points,” he said.

There is also a wool handlers competition, where judges assess how people present the wool on the table, and if they take too much wool or not enough.

Second place state winner was Sam Mackrill, third place Dan Mraz, and fourth Brian Wallden.

A few women competed in the shearers competition but Mr Clarke said this number can definitely grow.

He said despite it being a male-dominated industry, women are more than capable of getting involved.

“Every year we do get women competing, which is a stark contrast to 10 years ago, when you wouldn’t see any women up there,” he said.

“It’s physical, but it depends on your background.”

He said women tend to dominate the wool handlers competition, held in conjunction with the shearing competition, where of the 40 or so handlers, 30 were women.