The Professional Bull Riders Association is returning to the rodeo capital at Buchannan Park Arena in conjunction with the annual Mount Isa Agriculture Show.

Bull riding fans will be able to watch the top 40 bull riders from the Australian Tour compete against the best bucking bulls in the state.

Like all PBR events, it is hard to determine an outright favourite with anyone of the 40 riders in the competition able to step up on the night and deliver the winning ride. 

To ensure the competition is challenging, each rider will ride one bull on the Friday night, then another on the Saturday night with the top 10 scores over two bulls qualifying back to the final.

Then it’s onto the deciding Championship Round, where they will be randomly drawn against the top 10 bulls in the competition and the rider with the highest combined scores on three bulls being the eventual event winner.

The Mount Isa Arena also allows each and every spectator a great viewing position to witness these professional athletes put their bodies on the line for the one like-minded goal of earning their way to this year’s National Finals at Sydney’s Qantas Credit Union Arena on July 11.

A spot in Sydney keeps the dream alive for victory in the Australian title and securing a wild card position into the lucrative PBR World Finals in Las Vegas.

PBR general manager Glen Young said the action will be fierce. 

“It is the third last event before our National Finals in Sydney so the points on offer at this event are like collecting gold coins at this stage of the competition,” he said. 

“There is really three dimensions to this event, firstly you have the number one ranked rider in the nation, Fraser Babbington, who needs to do well in this event to maintain and or extend his lead going into the final stages. Then there are his challengers, like Dave Mason who will fly in from the USA days before to compete in this event with the aim of regaining the lead that he lost to Babbington weeks earlier. Mason and five others are hot on the heels of the kiwi bull riding champion so doing well in Mount Isa is a must for them in order to stay in striking distance.” 

The PBR will be held at this year’s show on Friday 19 and Saturday,  June 20, starting at 6pm