Rodeo: Junior National Finals hopefuls saddle up at worlds qualifying event

While there they attended the PBR finals and were introduced to 'mini' bulls.

Effectively a smaller version of a bucking bull, they can weigh up to 400kg but can't be any taller than 120cm and are bred for young riders.

Matthew had at the time been breeding and contracting bulls for about four years.

"Trish liked them there and thought they'd be good over here," he said.

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So they "got a pen together" and started breeding them at their Bundarra property.

They, while they were at the finals, also met a few big promoters and kept in contact with them.

So when they decided they wanted to invest in helping develop the next generation of cowboys, they reached out, and in 2018 took their first team over to compete at the Junior National Finals Rodeo.

At Bundarra on the weekend they started the process to select the team to represent Australia at this years finals, holding the first of two Junior Worlds Qualifiers .

"We had 80 kids from as far as Cloncurry down to Tumut," Doak said.

This year they have also branched out into broncs and are planning to take over a few saddlebronc and bareback competitors as well.

The final three rounds of the qualifiers will be held at the end of April, and with spots at a premium (they are allocated one competitor per age division in the mini bulls and two for the broncs) the competition will be stiff.

Doak said it is the first time they have held specific qualifying events with multiple rounds to select the team. Usually they run a few rodeos over a period of four or five months.

The decision to do it the way they have this year was partly because of COVID, he said, but it's also how they run the qualifiers in the states.

He said the opportunity to compete at the words is a huge one for the aspiring young cowboys.

"If they want to rodeo professionally, it's a real opportunity to set themselves up," he said.

"There's so much opportunity for sponsors and college sponsorships."

The Queenslanders had the best of it on the bulls on the weekend with Rockhampton's Cooper McDonnell winning the 10-11's division, Roma's Matt O'Hearn the 12-13s, Ipswich's Nash Jones the 14-15s and St George's Sam Southern the 16-18s.

Jones also transitioned his skills over to the broncs and finished tied on top with Tumut's Toby Deudney in the 14-15yrs bareback.

Rocky Glen's Linden Raaen, who won his division of the mini bulls in 2019 to become the world champion, lead the way in the 14-15yrs saddlebroncs and Scott Wells (Goondiwindi) the 16-18yrs.

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