Blake, 23, and his brother Brendan, 16, were among the top eight woodchoppers aged under-25 competing for the rookie crown.

Blake finished in first place overall with 26 points, leading the field for most of the day with first place in the standing block (18.77 secs) and underhand chop (19.52 secs). 

He came second in the stock saw (13.08 secs) with his only disappointing performance in the single buck, in which he finished sixth.

At 16, Brendan was the youngest chopper in the field but showed that he has the makings of a great competitor. 

He had an unfortunate start to the final round, finding a large knot in his block, and the youngster made the right choice by choosing not to finish the log and save his $1000 axe for next year’s competition.

In the open division, Congewai’s Justin Beckett also had a great day, taking out the fifth and final spot on the 2017 Pro Tour.

Securing his spot on the eight-man Pro Tour takes Beckett one step closer to making the Chopperoos team who will represent Australia at the 2017 Stihl Timbersports World Championship in Norway next November.

The top five from the Pro Tour will qualify for the Chopperoos.

Despite a poor start to the day finishing in last place in the first discipline (spring board), he didn’t let that get him down. 

Beckett came back with a blazing performance in the stock saw, taking out second place and then first place in the single buck, winning with almost a two-second lead. 

The hot saw always proves the pivotal discipline in Stihl Timbersports competitions and once again it delivered.

Beckett needed to cut three good cookies to make the top five. His performance saw him place third with a time of 9.40 seconds. 

He finished the competition in joint fourth place overall on the leader board, with 33 points.

Beckett said it was a good standard of competition.

“It’s good to see the Australian guys starting to get on top of the different disciplines, like the chainsaw and the springboard,” he said.

Marsh too praised the level of competition.

“It was a high standard of chopping between all of us boys,” he said.

“I was very happy to come out with a win.”

Marsh said he will be chopping at home and working on his fitness to get into peak condition for the Rookie World Championships, which are expected to be held Germany in May.

He is hoping to become the first Australian to win a Stihl Timbersports rookie world title.

Tasmania’s Andrew Kelly was the first Australian to compete for the rookie world title this year, and came home with third place.