Lachy Rice, pictured second from right, with his NSW under 21s team mates at the Gatton Show in QLD.
The Rice boys (Matt, Lachy and Alex ) travelled to Gatton, QLD last Saturday 27th July to compete in the Woodchopping competition at the Gatton Show.
Lachy was selected to represent NSW in the u/21s team, who competed against other states in a relay in the main arena in front of a large crowd. Lachy lead the team in the first event, a 300mm underhand chop.
The QLD team, which included a number of Australian u/21s team members, were always going to be hard to beat. Perhaps spurred on by the recent rugby league loss, the Queensland team came out strong, amidst “Queenslander!” shouts prior to the race.
The relatively young NSW team, which includes 16 year old Lachy Rice and 18 year old Ben Waters, came a galant third behind VIC in second place and the local favourites, QLD in first.
In other events, Lachy won the Open 300mm under handicap event to top off a good competition.
Alex and Matt chopped in various events, learning more about the sport and coming away with more than a few blisters.
Matt said, “Lachy did so many chops, that his hands were bleeding at the end of the long day. That’s just part of it. It was a massive program, with competition starting at 8am and going through to 8pm.”