NABBING NEBO’S DOLLARS

 Jordan Iker aboard Cherokee Mountain of Rick Knudsen’s set the Saddle Bronc Riding on fire with a whopping 84.5 marked ride. Jordan made a picture-perfect ride in front of a packed-out crowd at Nebo. The Saddle Bronc Riding paid like a slot machine with Jordan winning over $5,500, the posted prize money and addback totalling over $15,000 which was up for grabs. This win will secure Jordan a spot to the National Finals in November without a doubt!

In the Bull Riding, Cameron Southern proved why he is the current Bull Riding Champion of Australia with his 82-point ride. Cameron’s win of over $4,500 will put the pressure on the front runners in the Bull Riding standings as he hopes to continue the rest of the season with his winning momentum now that the ball is well and truly rolling.

Toby Deudney stamped his ticket into the top spot of the Bareback and put everyone on notice that although this is his first season out of the Junior ranks, he’s not taking his foot off the accelerator and is expected to make his first appearance at the National Finals this year. Toby topped all the big names in the Bareback with his 84 point-ride.

In the Rope and Tie, Logan Penfold was the one who clenched top spot with his 9.4 second run. Logan was the first cab off the rank on Saturday afternoon and took advantage of the good calf out of the Destiny Downs herd to record his blistering time that proved to tough to chase down by the rest of the competitors. Mitch Eastwell and Jackson Clark made lightening fast runs to put the pressure on Logan but were unable to knock him off his perch.

Tying top spot in the Steer Wrestling were both North Queenslander’s, Ryley Gibb, and Luke Ford. Tom Durbidge held the lead right through to the last round where both Ryley and Luke threw one down in 4.7 seconds. The split in the payouts, secured them both over $3,700 each, not bad for only 4.7 seconds worth of work!

Ben Smith, the current Heading Champion of Australia and Aaron Bookluck, a 4-time Heeling Champion of Australia went to work to come away with the big win of $5,000 each. The boys brought the heat with their 5.4 second run and left Layne Mancell and Brody Moss’s 5.6 second run in their dust.

The queen of Barrel Racing in the Nebo arena, Leanne Caban, reclaimed her crown going back-to-back with her win there last year. The new leader of the event set twice already before her in the Round of 10 held on Saturday afternoon, Leanne went out and put on a clinic to leave no room for error for the runners left to go after her later that night. The bridesmaid of the Barrel Racing happened to be Leanne’s daughter, Maddie who was the last runner making Leanne a little nervous right until the very end.

Joebie McPhee held her breath after the first round of Breakaway on Friday afternoon right through until the last round on Saturday night to prove victorious and stamp her ticket to Rope for the Crown in America later in the year. You better not of blinked on Friday afternoon when Joebie got the chance to throw her rope, or you would of missed her 2.05 second run which set the bench mark for the rest of the competition to chase down.

In the second division events, Jed Coote won gold in the Saddle Bronc, Cooper Mitchell held onto his rope for a win in the Bull Riding, and Toby Crumblin  proved victorious to get his hands on a first-place cheque in the Bareback.

Whilst in the Juniors, Emily Ward blitzed the competition in the Barrel Racing, and Jayden Kenny and Libby Corbet smoked some calves for a piece of the Nebo prize money. Jayden Kenny and Jesse Remfrey threw caution to the wind and rode their buckers to be triumphant. Jett Leahy and Lacey Hoskins established their dominance in the Junior Team Roping at Nebo for first place’s.  

Nebo is commended on their top tier rodeo; the sold-out crowd is only a small indication on how smoothly and well ran their rodeo was. The competitors are all grateful for the massive payouts Nebo brings to the calendar every year and can’t wait to see what next year will bring. Thank you, Nebo committee, and all involved with the running of this event!