Sam Mackrill has won his first national shearing title at Warrnambool, completing 20 sheep in 16 minutes and 59 seconds to lead a strong performance by Victorian competitors at the 2026 Sports Shear Australia National Shearing and Woolhandling Championships.
The 30-year-old finished more than three points ahead of the rest of the field after competing against several former national champions. His time was also more than 90 seconds faster than every other finalist, while his performance received a quality score of 8.10.
Mr Mackrill began shearing at the age of eight and has worked as a full-time shearer since he was 15. He first reached the Australian team in 2022 after placing third in the national title. The Warrnambool result is his first national championship victory.
“It’s a privilege to have your name on the trophy along with some of the greats in Australia,” Sam Mackrill said.
Speed combined with quality
Mr Mackrill said the final was built around establishing an early lead, while maintaining the standard required for a strong quality result. The approach produced the fastest performance among the finalists as well as the championship-winning score.
“That was the game plan, to put the speed on and try to get a bit ahead, and it’s pretty hard to come back from that far behind,” he said.
He also stressed that speed alone was not sufficient in a shearing competition, with the quality of the work remaining part of the result.
“Clearly got to have quality, but I go as fast as I can while maintaining the highest quality you can at the same time, you got to have both,” Mr Mackrill said.
The result came in a particularly strong year for Victorian competitors. Across the championship categories, shearers and woolhandlers from the state won five titles, covering senior, intermediate and novice competitions.
Victorian results across the championships
- Open shearing: Sam Mackrill won the national title.
- Intermediate shearing: Mac Hooppell won the final.
- Novice shearing: Leyland Seddon took the title.
- Senior woolhandling: Ally Tamblyn won the final.
- Novice woolhandling: Briony Knoll secured the title.
More than 200 entries were recorded for the open competition. The range of Victorian results indicates that the state’s success was not confined to the senior shearing final, with titles also secured by competitors in the developing and woolhandling categories.
Australian team place secured
Mr Mackrill will represent Australia at the Golden Shears Shearing and Woolhandling World Championships in New Zealand next year. He will be joined by Sam Byer from South Australia, who finished as runner-up at Warrnambool.
The international selection gives both finalists a place in the Australian team after a championship that tested shearing speed and quality in front of a field containing competitors with previous national titles. For Mr Mackrill, it follows his earlier progress into the Australian team in 2022 and marks a first national victory in the open competition.
