Northland’s Steven George demonstrated his grit to rise above a historic field of competitors at the Civil Contractors New Zealand CablePrice National Excavator Operator Competition, outclassing 11 of the country’s top operators to reign supreme.

The Whangarei owner-operator showcased nerves of steel and precision operating to clinch the victory. He took the title over Bay of Plenty champion John Rohloff of Fulton Hogan, while last year’s runner-up Michael Brown, also of Fulton Hogan, took third place.

George’s success in the competition, held on 14-15 March at Manfeild Park in Feilding during Central Districts Field Days, follows previous attempts in 2023, when he was runner-up, and 2024 when he took third. He was supported at the competition by Julie Fraser.

George said winning the competition title was “bloody awesome” and thanked everyone involved for their efforts in his victory speech.

“Thanks very much to everybody that put this on. All the organisers, sponsors, volunteers, it’s just great.

“Third nudge at this. I was second, dropped to third, and managed to get there today. I wasn’t too confident. I enjoyed watching all the other competitors. Everybody’s pretty skilled, eh! I don’t usually get nervous, but this evening was a bit of that.”

This year's event marked the 31st anniversary of the excavator ‘Battle Royale’ and broke new ground with three female regional champions - Georgia Lyford from Canterbury Westland, Lydia Hill from Nelson Marlborough and Tanya Claxton from Hawke's Bay East Coast - competing in the national finals for the first time in the competition's history.

This time round, competitors impressed spectators by completing amazing challenges including the ‘over the wire’ challenge, where they had to construct ramps of earth to navigate over a wire, as well as the ‘Connect Challenge’, which was trialled successfully by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon last year. This jumbo recreation of the classic Connect Four game was a perfect showcase of the outstanding fine-motor skills possessed by the regional champions. 

Traditional crowd-pleasing tasks faced by the competitors included painting, scooping ice cream for the crowds that looked on at Field Days on the 13-tonne excavator course and popping a champagne cork to celebrate completion of the 5.5-tonne excavator course.

The competition's Connexis One-day Job Challenge saw operators push their knowledge, as well as skills. Josh Keane of Otago-based McEwan Haulage was awarded the prestigious One-Day Job Challenge trophy for 2025, winning over judges with his attention to detail.

The Humes MVP award went to Nelson Marlborough champion Lydia Hill, from Elite Excavations in Blenheim, who demonstrated outstanding camaraderie amongst her competitors, as well as the judges and supporters through the event. 

Invercargill local Brad Fallow, from SouthRoads, won the Geoff Duff Memorial Trophy for a second year running. The trophy recognises the person achieving the best scores across the truck-loading challenges featured in the competition and commemorates Geoff Duff of Carterton – a former National Excavator Operator Competition judge.

Civil Contractors New Zealand Chief Executive Alan Pollard congratulated all the competitors for their dazzling skills, and George on his victory.

“Steven delivered a remarkable performance from start to finish, conquering a formidable course with some tricky new challenges thrown in the mix and a very strong line-up of opposition - it was a real masterclass in precision operating.”

Mr Pollard said the competitors represented the best of the civil construction industry, and their efforts in front of a throng of spectators at Central Districts Field Days helped inspire the next generation to take up the tools to meet the country’s infrastructure needs.  

“The skill on display highlighted why excavator operators are so critical to New Zealand's development. These men and women do more than just operate machines – they're skilled professionals whose expertise transforms ideas into the roads, water networks and other vital infrastructure that support the daily lives of Kiwi communities."

The Platinum Sponsor for this year’s national competition was CablePrice, which has been a longstanding supporter of the industry and the competition. CablePrice also provided and serviced the state-of-the-art Hitachi excavators the competitors operated during the event.

This year’s mini-dig was another competition fixture, enabling children to get behind the controls of an excavator to see what they could do as a grown-up if they took up the tools of the civil trades. The mini-dig also raised hundreds of dollars were for mental health charity, MATES in Construction.

The other major competition sponsors were Attach2, beforeUdig, Civil Trades, Connexis, Contractor Magazine, Doug the Digger, First Gas, Hirepool, Humes and Low Cost Bins.

The 2025 winners were:

• Champion: Steven George, Steven George Contracting, Northland
• Runner-up: John Rohloff, Fulton Hogan, Bay of Plenty
• Third Place: Michael Brown, Fulton Hogan, Waikato
• Connexis One-day Job Challenge: Josh Keane, McEwan Haulage, Otago
• Humes MVP Award: Lydia Hill, Elite Excavations, Nelson Marlborough
• Geoff Duff Memorial Trophy: Brad Fallow, SouthRoads, Southland

Top three (L_R): Michael Brown, Steven George and John Rohloff.

This year's champion, Steven George, taking on the 'Connect' challenge.

Runner up John Rohloff navigating the 'Under the Wire' challenge.

Tanya Claxton, from Hawke's Bay East Coast, doing the 'Buzzer' challenge.