Woodchopper sharper than the rest

Training is ramping up for Emma Riddell as she gets set to bring the axe down on her international debut.

A strong chopping season has seen her selected for the New Zealand team to compete against Australia in a test match at the 2024 Royal Adelaide show in August.

Having competed across the Tasman with the South Island team earlier this year, she says it will be tough to topple the Australians.

"I'm aiming to be the end underhand cutter," she says.

Test matches in competitive woodchopping are raced in a relay format, with underhand, double saw and single saw disciplines coming together to race as a team.

And with a background in team sports, Emma says it wasn't until woodchopping that she competed individually and the team dynamic is something she's looking forward to.

Having made her public debut over Labour Weekend just four years ago, Emma has quickly risen through the ranks to be one of the country's best.

As a specialist criminal defence lawyer by day and an international woodchopper in between, she doesn't have much time to fit in other activities.

Emma says she trains every Sunday afternoon with her coach, Dave McEwen, alongside multiple sessions at the local showgrounds every week.

Add in "a whole lot" of gym work and "some more" cardio, and you have her training regime.

"It's a whole lot of work on fitness and technique before Adelaide," she says.

"Technique is all about hitting hard, but also how the axe goes into the wood. . . accuracy and the pattern to maximise the amount of wood you get in each swing. And then there's reading the block, you try and put a bit of thought into it and how to best chop through it."

With Dave being one of the selectors for the New Zealand team, Emma says she had a good sense of her chances of being selected.

But not wanting to count her chickens, she says it was still a thrill to get the news that she'd wear the silver fern in competition.

"It's exciting to be able to represent my country in this little old sport that we do.

"I'm looking forward to going over there with the women."