AUSTRALIAN STOCKMANS HALL OF FAME....

 FOUR of the top five timed event cowboys in the country will be at the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame at Longreach on Friday night (July 26) for an Australian Professional Rodeo Association event.

There are 217 nominations for a rodeo with all eight championship points events.

Shane Kenny, of Emerald, is the most successful cowboy in APRA history and will compete along with Shane Iker, of Alton Downs, Victorian cowboy Terry Evison and Emerald rider Clancy Middleton.

All four compete in all three timed events for cowboys, the rope and tie, steer wrestling and team roping, and all regularly win prize money in each event and could be rated as four of the top five who contest the three events.

The competitors heading to Longreach will be seeking prize money to boost their chances of a top-15 finish and qualification for the 2014 National Finals Rodeo.

The APRA season finishes on April 30 next year but a successful Northern Run in the next month, success at the Warwick Rodeo on the last weekend in October and then on the Christmas Run in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales will go a long way to snaring a top-15 finish. Placings are determined by prize money alone so success at the two richest rodeos at Mt Isa and Warwick is a major boost to a rider’s standing.

There are 15 entries for the saddle bronc ride at Longreach, including favourite Cameron Webster, of Wandoan, the pro tour winner in 2013. Star campdrafter Ben Hall has nominated for Longreach and will be hard to beat.

Central Queensland rider Stuart Frame is one of a handful of rough stock riders to contest two events and will be at Longreach.

Two other iron men of the sport, the Angland Brothers Rhys and Cody, from Wantabadgery in New South Wales, will miss the Northern Run as they are currently competing in America in two rough stock events.

After the Longreach Rodeo, riders will move on to two of the only four two-day APRA rodeos, Cloncourry and Mt Isa in early August.

PROGRAM: July 26 Longreach; August 2-3 Cloncurry Merry Muster, August 9-11 Mt Isa Rodeo.