Buninyong wood chopper Brad Turner is on the cusp of making the Australian team which will fly to the World Championships in Norway next year.
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Turner is one of 10 wood choppers heading to Sydney for Saturday’s qualifying stage towards the 2017 pro tour.
The top five qualifiers will earn selection into Australia’s national team – the Chopperoos.
Wood chopping has six disciplines – underhand chop, standing chop, springboard chop, single-handed saw, stock saw and hot saw.
All of which are judged on speed with competitors given a score out of 10 across all six events.
Turner has been wood chopping since he was 9, giving the 45-year-old a wealth of experience in the sport having travelled overseas to compete while he also attended the Lumberjack World Championships in the USA for 11 years.
Turner, who makes crosscut saws for a living, has been extremely busy with his family business which has not allowed him to get as much training as he would’ve liked. But he has been to all the main events on the 2016 wood chopping calendar leaving him confident in his chances.
"It'll be fairly tough, but I should go ok,” Turner said.
I know the competition fairly well, there are some young fellas that will be really tough to beat, but I'm pretty sure I can hold my own against them.
- Buninyong wood chopper Brad Turner
"Not as much (training) as I should have done this year...but that's because I've been to busy building saws.
"But I've been going to a lot of competitions, I've been to all the royal shows this year, so I think I should cut ok.
"I know the competition fairly well, there are some young fellas that will be really tough to beat, but I'm pretty sure I can hold my own against them.”
Turner’s best discipline is the single-handed saw, but he is also a very capable chopper. He is no stranger to performing on some of the biggest stages in the sport.
A fifth place finish in the Royal Sydney World title – which he describes as the “Wimbledon” of wood chopping – underlines his impressive ability.
"(It’s) the Wimbledon of wood chopping.
"If you can win at Sydney, you can pretty much say you're the best in the world."
Turner will come up against world champion Chopperoos Jamie Head and Mitch Argent, who were part of a successful Australian team in Germany.
Rounding out the field is Glen Gillam, Lindsay Hewitt, Justin Beckett, Dale Beams Matthew Gurr, Kody Steers and Brodie Dingle.
