How Brittnee keeps drama at bay for colleague Lochie
Lachlan Robertson, 29, is a cutter based in Wagga Wagga, NSW. Last year, he broke a world record when a team of five managed to slaughter 2,301 lambs in eight hours. Brittnee Bazeley, 33, is her wool class student and best friend.
-Lochie: Five years ago I was looking for a wool trainer and found Britt on Facebook. I was impressed not only by his ability as a wool grader (he has great attention to detail and is quick), but also by his ability to manage a team. We hit it off immediately and now work together six days a week.
About four years ago, I went off the rails after a breakup; I drank too much and moved on with my life. Britt told me to pull my head in. There was some tension there for a few weeks and we kept our distance at work. I apologized later.
I have a three-year-old son and a baby due soon with my new partner. Britt has a six-year-old son, so we talk about parenting. I’ve always relied on her for advice: She taught me about toasting kids like Nutella and how to keep them busy.
It always feeds me. I go to his restaurant and suddenly a couple of bacon and egg sandwiches and a big glass of blackcurrant sorbet appear in front of me. I’m getting a little heavy and it’s not helping at all.
It takes the drama away from us. I have rivals who like to talk badly about me, and a few of them don’t realize how close we are. One time, as I was dropping them off at my car, someone took action. Brittnee charged at her: “You better watch your mouth or you might start walking.”
‘If I get married, I would ask him to be my best man, even though he is a girl.’
Lachlan Robertson
He’s been trying to learn how to cut properly for a while now, but he’s given up on the idea. He can work roughly around a sheep but would I let him do that for a job? No. Too slow.
On the other hand, I tried wool grading when Britt needed a potty break and she came back and said: “Well, that’s in the wrong spot.” I can throw a fleece [onto a sorting table] It’s not too bad, but when it comes to choosing the quality of wool, I’m pretty shitty about it. You should be able to see the crimp in the fleece: the finer the crimp, the finer the wool.
As a team we travel all over NSW together and spend a lot of time together. I listen to that raunchy gangster shit on the radio and I hate it. I like white girl pop music. Or I’ll put on some country music and he’ll be like, “What the hell is this?”
Britt is happiest when she’s with her family. It was her young friend’s birthday the other day and she was smiling and having a great time. The family is big; I guess it’s a cultural thing. She has no Maori tattoos but wears a green stone necklace. I bought it for him in New Zealand.
The day we broke the world record [near Holbrook, in southern NSW]He was always with me, working as my navigator. Finally he said, “Let’s never do this again.” We were deceived.
Britt is my best friend. If I were to get married, I would ask him to be my best man even though he was a girl.
Britt: My first impression of Lochie was: “This can’t be the boss: he’s too young.” And he was very shy. I started working freelance for him for a few days. He asked if I would work full time and I was an arrogant bastard and said “Yes, if I get X amount a day” thinking it would never happen but he came back the next day and said “Yes”. “Damn…” I thought. and I’ve been with him ever since.
At first glance he seemed friendly and kind, which is rare in our industry: you meet a lot of tough people who can be rude and harsh. He was very understanding when I told him that I had a newborn son and that I was doing everything on my own.
When I first started he was friends with everyone and always saw the good in them even if they were mean to him. It was a big deal that people wanted subscriptions [an advance on their wages]. They saw it as an ATM. “What are you doing?” I said. I soon put an end to it.
He once outright hooked up with a girl [nightmare]; everyone could see. We had a few regrets about it. “Will you please accept him and like him?” he said. and I would tell him, “I don’t change what I believe to fit in. he.” He couldn’t stand it for long. He eventually woke up, but only after she tortured him. He started doing stupid things like drinking – heavy, heavy drinking. I would go to his house with an iced coffee and tell him he was being a complete idiot: “What are you doing? This is stupid. It hurts now, but it’s not something that’s going to ruin your life.”
He is like a brother to me and I can talk to him about anything. But he doubts himself. Even on the day the world record was broken, he doubted his skill level, his mental ability, and said he didn’t know if he could do it. “Hurry up: you’ve got this,” I told him.
It was emotional for him and his team to break the record. His whole family was there. I let them congratulate him, then I hugged him and told him I was really proud of him. Was he the happiest I’ve ever seen him? I don’t know. To be fair, he looked like shit afterwards.
When he has too much work to do, I tell him to turn off his phone and put a message saying he’s out of range and everyone calls me instead. I guess I’m like his bodyguard. I was told I looked scary; Must be that resting bitch face.
We spend a lot of time together at work and talk on the phone 15 times a day when we’re not at work. We talk about everything: relationships, work, gas prices, random things on Facebook.
I live on his farm and help with general sheep chores. He turned from a boss into a true friend. This is a relationship neither of us expected, but I’m really glad it happened.
Stephen Lacey- Avid cyclist, passionate student of design and style and purveyor of quality drinking experiences. He once stepped into the ring with a man from the cult and cut a broken rib for his trouble – all in the name of getting the story, of course.Connect with: X or email.
