In 1985, Louise travelled to England to judge Dorset sheep. She was very impressed with the dominance of the Texel breed in the carcase displays in England. So in the late 80s when LambXL started advertising in Australia, Louise encouraged Bill to visit New Zealand and view the sheep.
Bill went to see the Texels in quarantine in New Zealand and was reassured to see the style of sheep there: free moving and smooth shouldered.
Bill was chosen, with Graham Gilmore, as a selector for the Australian buyers. He travelled to New Zealand every year to give advice on the rams to be used for the breeding program and was astounded to see the improvement in the quality of sheep in a short timeframe. Bill believes the work done at this early stage set up the Australian flock to be some of the best Texels in the world.