Boyup Brook shearer Danielle Mauger celebrated her 23rd birthday at the 2021 Perth Royal Show, taking second place in the intermediate shearing final. PHOTO: Mal Gill, Farm Weekly
Following in the footsteps of her father, 23-year-old Danielle Mauger from South West WA is an established shearer in the Boyup Brook area and is also proving to be a skilled competitor.
With an ambition to shear in the open category of competitions, Danielle has shown she might not be far off achieving this goal. She has put in a string of impressive performances lately and most recently beat the men to win the intermediate competitions at Dinninup and Boddington.
"I'd love to make the Nationals once COVID settles down, but the big goal is to one day be shearing in an open final with the best," Danielle said.
"For me, one of the main reasons I love competing is the people that are a part of it. The judges and more experienced shearers are always really supportive and help by telling you what you're doing right or wrong and how you can improve.
"There are definitely more females in shearing competitions now and at a higher level too, which is great to see. When I first started doing competitions about six years ago, I mainly saw females in the novice but now it's really common to see them in under 21s, intermediate and senior – and hopefully in the open soon."
Although Danielle started competing in shearing competitions when she was at the WA College of Agriculture Harvey, shearing has always been in her blood. She grew up on an 80-hectare sheep farm at Balingup run by her parents Linda and Ross who is a semi-retired shearer
"Dad used to be a shearer and shore in the Wheatbelt and at Boyup Brook in the shearing run that I'm currently working in. He also travelled around the world shearing in places like New Zealand, Europe and America, which is something that I'd love to follow his footsteps doing," Danielle said.
"My brother Scott is a shearer too, also in the Boyup Brook district, and he shears in open competitions."
Shearer trainer Kevin Gellatly teaching Danielle best practice technique at an AWI-funded shearing school a few years ago.
Danielle started shearing full time when she was 19 and currently works for a local contractor, Shear Pride.
"I love the freedom of shearing, how you can push yourself as much as you want. I also like the people; everyone has a different story and there are so many different personalities in the industry. I've never had a job that's had the same camaraderie or atmosphere. It's fast paced and intense but there's always lots of banter as well," she said.
"I look up to a lot of people in the industry. I have a lot of respect for shearers like my brother and Luke Harding who've worked their way through the competitions to get into the open, and speed shearers like Koen Black and Floyde Neil.
"But then there's also humble everyday people in the industry that have bought houses, had families and are just genuinely amazing people that I look up to and want to be like every day."
Although Danielle acknowledges that shearing is hard work and puts a lot of strain on the body, it is definitely a job that she recommends.
"I think people that like hard work, working in a team and that like a challenge would like the shearing industry," she said.
With shearer trainers focussing on shearing technique and balance rather than brute strength, there are an increasing number of women willing to pick up a handpiece and join the shearing industry.
"From what I've seen there are definitely more females that are keen to learn how to shear and slowly more that want to actually take it on as a job," Danielle said.
Danielle cracked her first 200 two years ago but she has ambitions to develop her skills and productivity further.
"My short-term goals right now are to shear 300 in a day and to travel Australia and the world shearing. I really want to stick with shearing for another ten or so years, depending on how my body is handling it!"
This article appeared in the December 2021 edition of AWI's Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged.
