Balmoral 2025: Champion sheep-shearer on what it takes to compete

Jack Robinson, champion shearer from Claudy, speaks about what competing involves at the Balmoral Show

Transcript

00:00Can you introduce yourself and tell us what it is you're doing here today?

00:03Hi, my name's Jack Robinson. I'm here today to compete in the National Sheep Shearing Championships.

00:10It involves, you've got judges on the board and judges out the back.

00:14So there's three aspects of shearing, which is speed, second cuts on the board,

00:19and then out the back then is trendiness of the sheep.

00:22So that's wool left on our skill cuts.

00:25So then they add the three points together and drivers got the lowest score at the end of the day.

00:30Becomes champion.

00:31Seems very physically demanding, is it?

00:33It is very physically demanding. You need to be fit, so you do, and you need to be young to do it as well.

00:39Do you need to train? Do you need to hit the gym to do it?

00:41The professionals do it, aye. If you put on a wee bit of training, it helps whenever you're in the big finals.

00:47So it is just to get you over the line.

00:49So how long are you doing this, and what was it that got you started in the first place?

00:54I've been shearing now for roughly 17 years, and I started off shearing my own sheep at home,

01:01and then I'd done the junior competition at King's Hall at Balmoral, and I won it.

01:07So then after that I got the bug and just been doing competition shearing ever since.

01:10So you're here at Balmoral every year competing. What does it mean to you to be doing this?

01:17Well, it's like the shop window for my job. If I come here and run to Balmoral, then there's farmers out there watching,

01:25and they'll say, well, he's cleaning coral this year, I'll get him to shear my sheep.

01:28So then you get work out of it as well.

01:31Interesting way to audition.

01:34Well, are you feeling lucky about today?

01:35Well, it's, you never know, anything can happen, you're working with a live animal.

01:40So that's hopefully all being well, it goes well.

01:43Grand.