IT’S ON: North Nowra’s Jack Windley will need all the support he can get to help NSW defeat a strong Victorian side.
AXES are set to fly at the Nowra Show this weekend as the NSW under 21s team goes head-to-head with Victoria in their own state-of-origin axeman’s relay race.
It will be the first time Nowra will host the competition, held in the lead up to the Sydney Royal Easter Show, where Tasmania and Queensland will join in for state bragging rights.
In a best of three rounds, the first two races will be held on Friday and Saturday nights at the Nowra Show, with the decider at Crookwell Show on Sunday.
The competition is a relay format starting with an underhand, then moving to a standing block, single saw, double saw, and finishing with another underhand and standing block.
North Nowra axeman Jack Windley will represent the Shoalhaven on the NSW team, joining seven other axemen hailing from Eden to the north coast.
Windley, 18, comes from five generations of axemen, has been competitively chopping wood for eight years, and has been representing NSW since he was 15.
His specialty is the single saw.
“I grew up around woodchopping. I saw my dad and grandfather doing it as well, so it is just a family thing,” he said.
Last year the NSW team finished third at Sydney, with Victoria taking out the top prize.
To add an extra challenge for NSW, they will be working with three new members.
“It will be pretty even, the Victorian team is pretty strong,” said Windley.
The first match-up of the Holiday Haven NSW v Victoria Under 21s relay race will be at 8.10pm tonight at the woodchop arena.
