{"id":4120,"date":"2019-11-05T05:16:15","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T05:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=4120"},"modified":"2019-11-05T05:16:15","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T05:16:15","slug":"the-countdown-to-australias-biggest-annual-professional-bull-riding-battle-is-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2019\/11\/05\/the-countdown-to-australias-biggest-annual-professional-bull-riding-battle-is-on\/","title":{"rendered":"THE COUNTDOWN TO AUSTRALIA\u2019S BIGGEST ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL BULL RIDING BATTLE IS ON"},"content":{"rendered":"

The nation\u2019s best professional bull riders are down to the wire in a fierce battle for this year\u2019s PBR Australia title, with just ten days to go until the pinnacle PBR Monster Energy Tour Grand Finals<\/em><\/strong> in Townsville.
\nTaking place at Townsville Entertainment Centre<\/strong> over two bumper nights on<\/a> November 15<\/a> & 16<\/strong>, the PBR Grand Finals mark the final and deciding chapter in the hotly-contested 2019 PBR Australia season.
\nThe critical event will attract 18 of Australia\u2019s top riders, as well as four key internationals \u2013 including former World Champion Kaique Pacheco (Brazil), for an epic head-to-head showdown that will decide the coveted 2019 PBR Australia National Champion title<\/strong>.
\nThe riders will also matchup against some of the best bucking bulls in the country \u2013 the supreme animal athletes that earn \u2018superstar\u2019 status in of one of the world\u2019s fastest growing sports.
\n\u201cThis year marks the 20th<\/sup> anniversary of PBR in Australia, and the Grand Finals in Townsville are the biggest celebration of the sport\u2019s growth from when we launched the national tour in 1999, said PBR Australia General Manager, Glen Young<\/strong>.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to be hosting such a marquee event in the same town as the PBR Australia headquarters \u2013 and the Townsville community has always welcomed us and our sport with open arms.\u201d
\n2018 PBR Australia Champion\u00a0Aaron Kleier<\/strong> (Clermont, QLD) is set to return to Townsville in a bid to nab consecutive national titles.
\nKleier, currently sits atop the PBR Australia Standings, having successfully backed up a breakout runner-up finish in 2017, and an inaugural Australian Championship win in 2018.
\nWith just ten days to go until the PBR Australia Grand Finals, Kleier holds a points lead over his nearest rival, fellow Clermont (QLD) young-gun Brady Fielder<\/strong>.
\nFielder, ranked #2 on the current PBR Australia Standings, looks primed to take out the 2019 Rookie of the Year title, and could make a run for the National Championship with some stellar results in the tail end of the season.
\nNo stranger to rising to big occasions, 19 year-old Fielder has scored multiple top-3 finishes in PBR Australia tour events this year, including PBR title wins in Newcastle, Marrabel and Cunnamulla and today flew out of Brisbane to fly the flag for Australia in the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas this weekend (Nov 7-10<\/a>).
\nDespite his youth, the fearless Fielder already sports his fair share of bull riding battle injuries \u2013 he\u2019s not only lost vision in his left eye, but also sustained a punctured lung.
\nCliff Richardson <\/strong>(Gresford, NSW) is at #3 on the PBR National Standings, and has just flown out to represent Australia alongside Fielder at the PBR World Titles in Las Vegas.
\nRunner up to National Champion Kleier in the 2018 title race, 28 year-old Cliff started the year strong however failed to find consistency in the middle of the PBR Australia season.\u00a0 With recent form under his belt, Cliff has his sights set on bettering his #2 Grand Final position this year.
\nCliff\u2019s younger brother and PBR Australia #4 Lachlan Richardson<\/strong> (Gresford, NSW) is also hoping to put injury and a mid-season slump behind him to make a last-ditch run at this year\u2019s national title.
\nThe 26-year-old consolidated his top-4 ranking with a return to form after injury and a string off disappointing buck-offs earlier in the year.
\n\u201cYou work hard at it every single day, and then the results don\u2019t show. It annoys you, but it also makes you hungry for next week. I had a bit of bad luck there for a bit, but you\u2019ve just got to keep working at it,\u201d Richardson added.
\n\u201cConfidence is a really big thing in this sport, and I feel good, healthy and ready to go.\u201d
\n2019 was the first season in Richardson\u2019s career that he did not embark on a summer run through the PBR tours in the USA and Canada. Grounded in Australia due to Visa issues, Richardson says he has enjoyed the break from international competition.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s great to be home. It wears you out being over there [in the USA] your whole life, so I\u2019m happy to be back here for a bit,\u201d Richardson said. \u201cI enjoy working and doing fun stuff on the farm, and I get to live with my fianc\u00e9e \u2013 so life is good,\u201d he explained.
\nOut of the mix for this year\u2019s national Championship is current PBR Australia #5, Cody Heffernan<\/strong> (Singleton, NSW).
\nHeffernan started the year looking virtually untouchable on top of the national leaderboard, however, a string of injuries have hampered his run at a second national title \u2013 with a knee injury now sidelining him entirely for this rest of this season and into the New Year.
\nThe tough as nails Heffernan has had knee surgery just 4 days ago and doesn\u2019t expect to be back competing on a bull for another nine months.\u00a0 The cracking start to the year he had leaves him still in fifth position in the national standings despite being injury riddled and unable to ride for the last few months of competition.
\nIn addition to crowning Australia\u2019s top bull rider, the PBR Grand Finals will also be the deciding event in the race to the Stock Contractor of the Year title.
\nThrosby & Russell, the 2018 title winners, currently lead the National Stock Contractor Standings, followed by
\nDittman Bucking Bulls<\/strong> at #2, and Brandenburg Bucking Bulls <\/strong>at #3.
\nBrandenburg Bucking Bulls, who were the 2017 PBR Australia Stock Contractors of the Year, are headed up by 23 year-old female bull breeder Dakota Brandenburg<\/strong>.
\nBrandenburg, who first started working with bulls when she was 13 years-old, cares for around 140 bulls at any given time. At the age of 18, she became the youngest female bull owner and trainer in the country \u2013 and now manages the day-to-day feeding, training, diet and vaccinations all the balls in her care.
\nAll of the top three stock contractors are renowned in an industry that prides itself on going the extra mile to ensure its animal athletes are cared for and conditioned to perfection.
\nThe action-packed PBR Grand Finals will also see Country music singer Ryan Weaver<\/strong> perform, straight from the USA.
\nBefore becoming the Patriotic Voice of PBR in the US<\/strong>, Weaver was a Military Intelligence Analyst and then a Black Hawke Aviator who was deployed to Baghdad International Airport. He has since toured the US with the PBR performing at sell-out events and is looking forward to performing in Townsville on his first trip to Australia. (More detail follows in the Editors Notes).
\nTickets are on sale for the Professional Bull Riders<\/em> (PBR) Monster Energy Tour Grand Finals in Townsville<\/em> atwww.tecc.net.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The nation\u2019s best professional bull riders are down to the wire in a fierce battle for this year\u2019s PBR Australia title, with just ten days to go until the pinnacle PBR Monster Energy Tour Grand Finals in Townsville. Taking place at Townsville Entertainment Centre over two bumper nights on November 15 & 16, the PBR … Continue reading “THE COUNTDOWN TO AUSTRALIA\u2019S BIGGEST ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL BULL RIDING BATTLE IS ON”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4120\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}