Jamie Mackay: The Country host speaks ahead of the 2025 Trans-Tasman Sheep Dog Trial Test series

The best heading dogs from both sides of the Tasman will go head-to-head tomorrow, as the 2025 Trans-Tasman Sheep Dog Trial Test series.

Running over two days, the competition will see elite handlers and their dogs from New Zealand and Australia battle it out for the Wayleggo Cup.

The Country's Jamie Mackay explains further.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The Rural Report on hither do see Alan Dreve. Donald
Trump has just lowered tariffs on China and announced an
end to Rare Earth's roadblock. This is after the g meeting,
so we'll get you across that detail when we can.
It's coming up nineteen Passicks and Jamie McKay, Host of
the Countries with US. Hello Jamie, Hello here.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
I say, take Trump, So why Iraqi? I'm with the
former Prime Minister Key on that one. I think you
can display a whole lot of stuff in one hit there.
I mean, Tarati's beautiful, but it's just like a flash
links course somewhere else around the world. I think of
all of our golf courses and we've got Cowie Cliffs
and Cape Kidnappers, I'd say Wairaki's the one that'll showcase

(00:41):
New Zealand the best. There you go there. I hope
he's a good bunker player.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Oh yeah, well see this is the thing. This is
That's that's how Luxon betrayed the fact that he's not
very good at golf, right he just picked the one
that he knows about.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah. Probably, but I'm sure John Key, even if Trump
can't remember him, would be a good person to take
him golfing, because let's I mean, he's a bit of
an egotist old Trumpet, isn't he. We just take him,
butter him up, tell him what he wants to hear,
and he might drop some tariffs for us as well.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, jk's a good time for four hours, I'd imagine. Now,
not a surprise at all, was it that Fonterra's vote
came back so overwhelmingly positive.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
No. Look, if you had to have a stab in
the dark at this one, I reckon I would have
gone ninety ten on this one. So you know, like
eighty eight and a half percent of the farmers that
voted voted for it. No surprise at all. We don't
look a three point two billion dollar gift horse in
the mouth, especially after some challenging times for the farming industry.
And look, as Peter McBride said today when he was

(01:39):
addressing the press, this is Fonterra concentrating on what it
does well as opposed to the old days under Tao
sparrings where they tried to take on the world and
do things that they didn't do as well as some
other people. Look, leave the consumer brands to the likes
of luck Talis. I've been practicing that one for you, Heather,

(02:01):
and get us to do what we do really well,
and that's the ingredients business and producing the raw material
to the highest standard.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Are you going to go to Tasman for the best
heading dogs competition?

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Well, it's not not Tasman. It's a trans Tasman sheep
dog trans Tasman.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Heather.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Here we're taking on the Aussies, you know, they ripped
us off and the dying minutes last night and the netball.
We're going rash Berson.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
That's close by.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
You can go there, Well, not that close by. It's
like about four hours up the road, Heather. At my end,
by the time an New Zealand get me there, it
would cost me an arm and a leg a short notice,
so I'd be much cheaper to watch it on Telly.
I don't know if it's even on Telly. But this
is up against the US, up against the Aussies and
the dog trials. You might remember the good old days

(02:49):
of a dog show starring the late John Gordon, very
popular on TV. This is a great spectator sport. They
bring the sport to the people instead having up on
the Hills with the hunter Ways, so this is kind
of a hybrid course. It's at the Ashburton amp Showgrounds.
They've kind of morphed Ossie dog trialing techniques with ours
to make it fair for both nations. We go where

(03:12):
we're competing for the Whalergo Cup here. Now that's a
terminology which means in slang sort of come away and
let go. That's where Walergo came from. That's an instruction
to a dog. Eyed myself for third, the fred D
gidden behind yelling from a distance. But every man and
his dog to what they want themselves. So we've been
competing at in this cup since nineteen eighty five. We've

(03:35):
won twenty one of thirty seven contests. So it's all
on tomorrow. The New Zealand team is captain by Mid
Canterbury local Mark Copeland and they're going to be really
out to win this four of them because last time
they competed in Ashburton and twenty twenty three their captain
Neil Evans led them to victory. Unfortunately, Neil, a bit

(03:56):
of a legend and dog trialing circles, tragically lost his
life last year in a quad bike accident on a farm,
so watch out the Kiwies. I think they're going to
give it to the Aussies.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
Oh I like that. Hey, thanks very much, Jamie, look
after yourself. We'll talk to you next week. Jamie Mackae
hosted the Country for More from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive.
Listen live to news talks.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.