PBR Australia makes its first Queensland stop of
The annual event will be held in conjunction with the 25th Annual Dirt N Dust Festival and will kick off at 7:00 pm AEST.
Twenty-eight bull riders will ride in the long round with the top 12 riders progressing onto the Championship Round. A strong pen of bulls awaits with stock from the Brandenburg Bucking Bulls, Dittmann Bucking Bulls and George Ayers.
There will be a maximum of 350-points towards the 2019 PBR Australian National Standings up for grabs across the two rounds of competition.
History
Justin Paton (Nebo, QLD) took home the buckle in 2018. The 26-year-old was the only rider to finish a perfect 2-for-2 on the night with rides aboard the Brandenburg Bucking Bulls pair of Bar None (80.0 points) and Catfish Coolie (79.5 points). Roy Dunn (Proserpine, QLD) finished in second place after combining with Dittmann Bucking Bulls’ Cloud Jumper for 85.5 points in Round 1. Finishing in third was Donovan Rutherfurd (Mount Isa, QLD), who was 85.0 points on Oooh Yah from Brandenburg Bucking Bulls.
In 2017, Aaron Kleier (Clermont, QLD) took home maximum points after winning both rounds of competition. His 86 point ride on Brandenburg Bucking Bulls’ Spartan and 89 point ride aboard Dittmann Bucking Bulls’ Cloud Jumper. The eventual Rookie of the Year’s 171.5 aggregate total was enough to hold off Braydon Wellby (Townsville, QLD) and Sonny Schafferius (Dingo
The Field
With current PBR Australia No. 1 Cody Heffernan (Singleton, NSW) taking the weekend off, the chasing pack of riders have an excellent opportunity to make up some ground in the race for the gold buckle.
Despite missing the previous event in Traralgon, Aaron Kleier (Clermont, QLD) remains 355 points behind Heffernan. While Kleier can’t overtake the ratings leader, he can take a big chunk out of the gap with a strong performance.
Lachlan Richardson (Gresford, NSW) faces a similar situation to Kleier, sitting just 370 points adrift of Heffernan in third place. Richardson has the highest riding percentage on tour this season.
Cliff Richardson (Gresford, NSW) made up ground on the PBR Australian National Standings leaderboard at the Traralgon Invitational with a strong performance. After missing the first few events of the season through injury, Richardson looks well positioned to contend for the Aussie title.
The big mover following a strong result in Traralgon was Ethan Watts (Tamworth, NSW) who jumped from 24th to 11th. With another strong performance, Watts can move into the top 8 and to within 1000 points of Heffernan.
Here is the full Julia Creek Touring Pro Daysheet
Predictions
It looks a tough night to preview any of the matchups or predict a winner.
I have not laid eyes on many of the bulls bucking in Round 1, and a lot of the riders who have drawn bulls that I have seen, have not been active in PBR competition so far this season.
The Championship Round pen, however, looks to be the strongest we have seen since in the current season. If you can make it out to the event, it will be well worth a look!
Coverage
As is usual with the Touring Pro events, I am not expecting too much coverage of this event on Social Media. We may have to wait a day or two for scores to be published so check back on Monday afternoon for full results in my PBR Weekend Wrap up.