Where are the SA young auctioneers now?

Read those from 2006-08 here and those from 2009-12 here.

And keep an eye out this week for the livestreaming and results from the 2023 national competition.

An auctioneer of five years experience at the time, PPHS agent picked up the statewide win in 2013.

Fast-forward 15 years, Naracoorte-based winner Craig Gill* has remained with PHHS and continued with a strong career in selling livestock.

It was just his second year competing but Craig put his best foot forward on the day, after channelling his previous experience up on the saleyard rails.

Like many agents, Mat MacDonald's first foray in auctioneering was at a clearing sale - specifically selling a slippery dip for $10.

"Then I started selling the sheep (at Naracoorte) and it went from there," he said.

The Southern Australian Livestock auctioneer says representing SA three times in Sydney - twice as a state runner-up and one as state winner - was great for progressing his skills as an auctioneer and pushed him out of his comfort zone.

"I didn't like the big crowd and the formality of it all but it was a great experience and I met a lot of good people along the way in ALPA and other young blokes coming up through the ranks," he said.

In his early years, he remembers practicing selling posts on the side of the road as he drove along and may have even brought out his auctioneering after a few drinks on a Saturday night.

Still with SAL, he gets plenty of practice selling SAL's cattle and lamb runs each Tuesday at Naracoorte as well as store sales and weaner sales.

Two of Mat's favourite sales of the year are the blue-ribbon Naracoorte first-cross ewe and ewe lambs sales, where he has sold several record breaking pens of ewe lambs for the McMahon family, McPiggery, Lameroo.

In 2019, he sold a pen of 1.5-year-old Border Leicester-Merino ewes for $402 for LockHaven, Mundulla - a saleyard record at the time.

"They are good days, and anything like those weaner sales last year when we were selling calves for prices we had never seen before," he said.

Mat's other memorable days on the rostrum have included the Leenala Poll Dorset stud's two stage dispersal sale held at the Naracoorte Showgrounds and the final Johnos Border Leicester ram sale at the same location in 2020 ,where the sale topper made a national breed record of $19,500.

"That's where I get the enjoyment out of it - getting the good results for the clients and getting the opportunity to stand over good stock," he said.

"I don't think I am one of those auctioneers that is 'look at me' - it is more about my clients getting the best money I can get for them."

Mat says auctioneering is a great tool for any agent to have and enjoys being responsible for selling his clients stock.

"You try that bit harder for your clients if you are the one doing the selling," he said.

Ronnie is a two-time winner. Read his story here.

A "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" came twice for former Elders Jamestown agent Jack Coleman, when he won the opportunity to compete in the national young auctioneers competition in 2016 and 2017.

Jack, who had been working for Elders for seven years before his first win, said he didn't realise there was a state competition at the start of his career and only threw his hat in the ring after attending the school as a refresher.

"I went in the competition after someone suggested I have a crack one year and didn't win, but then came back and won two years in a row," he said.

"The competition helps you grow as an agent and the school gives you skills you can use every day in the job."

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Although competing at Sydney was a daunting prospect, according to Jack, he said he had no regrets.

"The competition is certainly tailored to top notch cattle auctioneers, where I've spent my time selling sheep so it was a big change for me," he said.

"The last year I did it, I thought I'd sell pretty well but I dropped $1 a kilogram.

"I sold the grand champion steer, and to drop $1/kg on him shows that nerves can certainly bring you unstuck.

"But it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to compete at Sydney and every young auctioneer should give it a crack - you gain plenty of knowledge and make a rolodex of contacts for your career."

Following the competition, Jack worked at the Jamestown branch until he took time off to travel prior to the pandemic and he returned home for a stint on the family farm before taking up the livestock manager role at Elders Port Augusta.

Jack said looking back across his career, his greatest achievement was helping to interface the Jamestown monthly market with AuctionsPlus in 2019.

"That was a big step for the industry but also a big step for me because I was part of moving us in that new direction," he said.

"We were one of the first markets to interface with AuctionsPlus and possibly the biggest at the time with around 30,000 head at the market.

"That's something I'm really proud of and it's now a really important part of the sale."