We are now well inside the final month of the 2021 PBR Australia Season and just three events remain on the schedule, so let’s take a look at the current battles for the end of season hardware.
This weekend the Monster Energy Tour heads to Caboolture for a special double points event with $20,000 in prize money up for grabs.
Each of the three rounds on Saturday night will be worth 30 points, and the event winner will receive 100 points. That means that there is a total of 190 points available on the night. That is just 10 points less than there is up for grabs at the PBR Australia Grand Finals, so that shows you the importance of this event on the PBR Australia calendar.
A further 80 points are up for grabs at next weekend’s Rockhampton Invitational and then 200 points at the Grand Finals on the final weekend in November.
Add those all up, and you will see that with 470 points still on the table.
2021 PBR Australian National Champion
Aaron Kleier is chasing a historic fourth gold buckle, and he currently leads the race with 424.33 points accrued from his 11 starts on tour this season.
So, with those 470 points still available, mathematically, the 2021 PBR Australian National Title is still literally anyone’s. The entire top-20 on the Standings Leaderboard are within 400 points of the lead.
Number two ranked Kurt Shephard trails Kleier by 81.33 points. Macaulie Leather sits third, 130.83 points back, and Brady Fielder is fourth, 174.51 points behind.
If the Grand Finals kicked off today, those riders would still be in contention.
Lachlan Richardson is next in fifth, 210.83 points behind. Lawson Nobbs is 223 points behind, and the injured Bailey Woodard is 275.33 points adrift.
If these riders don’t make ground on the No. 1 ranked Clermont cowboy at Caboolture and Rockhampton, their title chances are done and dusted.
All other riders outside of that 280-point buffer after the Caboolture Invitational will be mathematically eliminated from contention.
2021 PBR Australia Rookie of the Year
Macaulie Leather holds a strong lead in the Rookie of the Year competition. If the Grand Finals were to start today, he would be unbeatable.
With his 293 points, he has amassed more Championship Points than all other eligible rookies combined.
This race isn’t over, but the riders chasing him, such as Kelsey Pavlou (78.5 points), Caiden Sandilands (72.99 points), Dan Ruhland (58.5 points), and Qynn Andersen (35.16 points), need to produce strong performances over the next two weekends if they are to challenge the Calliope young gun.
2021 PBR Australia Bucking Bull of the Year
This competition is down to a two-bull race.
Cattle King Boogers Beach from Dittmann Bucking Bulls leads the way with his five best bull scores so far this season, averaging out at an outstanding 45 points.
Razor Sharp is the only bull that can catch him. This Wallace Bucking Bulls bucker’s five best trips average out at 44.5 points.
The criteria for this award is the average of the bulls best five trips during the regular season plus the bull’s score from his final out at the Grand Finals. We will most likely see these trips in the Short Go on Saturday night.
Boogers Beach will not be seen again until the Grand Finals.
But we will see Razor Sharp out again. His ‘low’ score is 44.0 points.
If he can improve on that score at either of the remaining regular-season tour stops, he can put himself in with a great chance of making up the deficit in Townsville.
If he can’t improve on those scores, he will have to rely on his rival having a bad day at the Grand Finals – and that is something we haven’t seen from Boogers Beach yet.
2021 PBR Australia Rookie Bull of the Year
Cattle Kings Boogers Beach and Razor Sharp will also battle it out for the Rookie Bull of the Year. This award encompasses the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
The rules are the same as the Bucking Bull of the Year award, but with the additional scope of the extra season.
The results for this competition will be the same as the main award with both bulls producing their best efforts in 2021.
2021 PBR Australia Stock Contractor of the Year
Dittmann Bucking Bulls and Wallace Bucking Bulls will also battle it out for the Stock Contractor of the Year award.
This event is awarded to the contractor with the highest average bull score from their best four Monster Energy Tour events across the regular season, plus the Grand Finals event.
Heading into last weekend, Dittmann Bucking Bulls held a slim 0.25-point advantage.
They extended their lead by posting their highest Monster Energy Tour event average of the season.
Note: The stats below following the Emerald event are my calculations and not the official PBR figures. But, they wont be far off! I will get the official numbers to you before the Grand Finals.
That 43.50-point average in Emerald boosted their official score to 43.02 points, and they now lead by 0.38 points.
It was a good night for Wallace Bucking Bulls as well. They posted their third-best average of the season, and they now sit on an average of 42.64 points.
Again, the Dittmann truck will remain in Bloomsbury over the next few weeks, so the Biloela based Team Wallace has chances to cut into that deficit with trips to Caboolture this weekend and then Rockhampton next weekend.
I am looking forward to seeing these two bull teams go at it across the two-night showdown in Townville.
I hope that gets you all updated! I won’t have any coverage this weekend due to other commitments, but I will be back in the arena at Rockhampton.