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A Legend Inducted - John Fagan's lifetime legacy
John Fagan is a true legend of New Zealand’s rural sports, having achieved historic excellence in both shearing and fencing. His competitive prowess is the stuff of folklore: a Golden Shears champion (1984), a 91-time Open Shearing winner, and a former world record holder who was the first ever to shear 700 and 800 lambs in nine hours.
His legacy, however, extends far beyond personal victories and seamlessly bridges achievements, contributions, and leadership. John is a master builder of the sports themselves. In 1985, he co-founded the iconic NZ Shearing Championships (originally known as King Country Shears) and later helped launch the globally recognised “Running of the Sheep” in Te Kuiti. His administrative leadership spanned decades, including chairing Shearing Sports NZ and the World Records Committee from the late 1990s onward, and playing a key role in delivering the award-winning 2017 World Championships in Invercargill.
In parallel with his shearing achievements, he was also a dominant competitive fencer, winning multiple national singles titles and serving on the Fieldays Fencing committee for 20 years from 1985 to 2005. As a farmer, contractor, and innovator, he worked on product development and rural education, embodying the hands-on spirit of the land.
Such dedication has not gone unnoticed. Honoured with an MBE in the 1990s and multiple life memberships over subsequent decades, John’s influence has shaped institutions, inspired generations, and promoted New Zealand’s rural heritage on the world stage. Now retired and enjoying life at Waihi Beach, his half-century of monumental contribution cements his status as a deserving recipient of the Lifetime Legacy Award.
Bringing these achievements full circle, on 13th March 2026 at the Ford New Zealand Rural Sports Awards held at Awapuni Racecourse, John was made the inaugural member of the NZ Rural Sports Hall of Fame.
Highlights from the interview
Craig ‘Wiggy’ Wiggins, Paul van Beers and Sir David Fagan sat down with John on stage to celebrate the moment. Here are some of the highlights.
Paul van Beers: “John was a mentor for me when I was starting out. Back then, John was competing against probably the greatest fencer who ever lived, Bill Schuler. Bill set the benchmark for quality. It was between Bill and John, year in and year out. It must have been daunting, but John never backed down. On behalf of New Zealand Fencing Competitions and the whole fencing industry, we congratulate you on being the first inductee into the Hall of Fame. You have set an incredibly high bar.”
Sir David Fagan noted that both fencing and shearing communities have long hoped to celebrate John’s career in person at the Ford NZ Rural Sports Awards. “We will simply never ever see one man win the Golden Shears and the Golden Pliers™ ever again. Not in our lifetime, nor anyone else’s. No one will do that again, that’s how special that is.”
Wiggy asked John how he got into it: “I was shearing and fencing by the age of 16. We fenced between the shearing seasons, so it seemed a natural course to go into these sports. My first fencing competition was when I was 19, and that’s where I met a very special man, the late Bill Schuler. He took me under his wing, walked the line, and showed me how to be a better fencer.”
Sir David finished with this: “If you look at his achievements in farming and sports administration alone, even without his sporting titles, it’s staggering. He used to go in wood chopping championships; he was the only shearer who could chop a block and shear a sheep. He’s ridden steers. He was a bit of a nutter who would have a go at anything, and he’d get really good at it. John’s achievements and standing in the rural community is legendary.”
Article supplied by Ford NZ Rural Sports Awards
Published in WIRED issue 81/June 2026 by Fencing Contractors Association NZ
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