Finley High School wins Melbourne Royal Show interbreed

Finley High School, Finley, NSW, won both interbreed champion ewe and interbreed champion ram in an impressive field of entries.

The school did one better than last year, having won interbreed champion ram in 2022 but not quite getting the clean sweep.

Finley High School principal Jeff Ward said he was "immensely proud of the students, staff and agriculture program".

"It's been a long process and this is the culmination of a lot of hard work," Mr Ward said.

He said they had been showing sheep at Melbourne for more than 20 years.

"Melbourne is the ultimate for us, even though we're from NSW, Sydney is seven hours away from us so we're more attracted to Melbourne," he said.

"It's a great opportunity to showcase our animals, and it is part of the curriculum, too."

He said the agricultural program was a big part of the school.

"We've got some wonderful things going on in our school but a lot of people know about our agricultural program and that's because of the great people and teachers that started this 20 years ago," he said.

Finley High School year 11 student Erica Hammond was brought to tears after the ram she was handling was announced as the interbreed champion ram.

After getting photos taken with the ram, Ms Hammond said she was "so excited" by the win.

"We won the same title last year, so to do it back-to-back is even more rewarding," she said.

"He's such a good, little ram, he's going to produce some beautiful lambs if we decide to cross him over our ewes.

"And he's not even six-months-old yet.

"He weighs 88 kilograms, has a fat depth of 12 millimetres, which is the same as one of our older rams who performed well and got senior champion of the breed, and his muscle depth is already at 42mm.

"For a young one, he's developing very well and at a very-quick rate."

She said she loved being involved in the sheep industry.

"Finley High School offers such a great agricultural program, it's amazing," she said.

Finley High School agriculture teacher Gary Webb said they did not expect to win either award, let alone both.

"When we won interbreed ram last year, I thought 'that's not going to happen again, at least not for a little while, not little, old Finley High School', so we're very excited, the kids will be over the moon," he said.

"The winning ewe is lovely, she always has been since being a lamb, and she's been showing beautifully wherever she goes."

He said they were a small operation.

"We only breed with about 25 ewes each year, so artificial insemination is important," he said.

"Hillden [Poll Dorset stud, Bannister, NSW] have been supporters of ours for about 21 years with semen.

"[The champion ewe] is sired by Hillden 808."

Judge Chris Badcock, Fairbank stud, Hagley, Tas, was one of four judges assessing the interbreed line up.

Mr Badcock said he had placed both Poll Dorsets highly in his placings.

He said it was rare to see a ram lamb perform so well in the interbreed.

"It's not uncommon for a lamb to get a champion ribbon, but to get an interbreed, you don't see that often," he said.

"For a lamb, he's shown exceptional growth and muscling for age.

"When judging the interbreed, you're trying to find the best representation of each breed, and he probably did the least amount wrong.

"He's very correct."

He said the ewe was "very smart and feminine".

"She has heaps of length, a beautiful shoulder, and is a very-stylish sort of ewe," he said.

"She shows herself really well."

Mr Badock said the quality of the interbreed classes was very strong.

"There were lots of good sheep to pick from, which made our job hard," he said.

In the earlier interbreed classes, the champion heritage sheep of the show was won by Barry Shalders, Willow Drive, Grassmere, with his three-year-old ram that was supreme of the breed.

The ram trifecta of the show was won by Sayla Park Suffolk stud, Kilmore, while the sire's progeny championship was won by Sweetfield Corriedale stud, Mount Moriac, and the breeder's group championship went to Sayla Park.