Macaulie Leather Wins 2023 PBR Australia National Championship
By Darci Miller
PUEBLO, Colo. – In a PBR Australia National Championship race that came down to the wire, Macaulie Leather came out on top.
The 22-year-old from Calliope, Queensland, went 2-for-5 at this past weekend’s PBR Australia Grand Finals in Townsville, Queensland, to finish fourth overall, outpacing four-time PBR Australia Champion Aaron Kleier and win his first title.
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Leather got on the board early in Queensland, winning Round 1 with 86.25 points on Feldt Jacket and following that up with 84 points on Blondies Bomber in Round 2. He was agonizingly close to another qualified ride in Round 3, bucking off Say When in 6.57 seconds, but was ultimately held scoreless for the remainder of the competition.
That, however, was enough and put the pressure on Kleier to convert.
For his part, Kleier went 3-for-5 to finish third in Townsville. He rode Midnight Special for 82.25 points in Round 1 before winning Round 2 with 86.25 points on Cowboy Train. Following his 84-point ride on Close Combat in Round 3, Kleier had two near-misses in Round 4 and the championship round – he bucked off Ariat Lost Soul in 6.95 seconds in Round 4 and Fidler Industrial Pretty Boy in 6.91 seconds in the championship round.
When the dust settled on the season, Leather outdistanced Kleier by 334.17 points in the national standings.
Leather is still a new face on the scene, making his PBR Australia debut in 2021. In 2023, he went 37-for-65 (56%) with two Monster Energy Tour event wins, four additional Touring Pro Division event wins, and a victory at the State of Origin I.
Leather also made PBR Australia history by winning $171,000 in 2023 – the most money ever won by a bull rider in PBR Australia competition.
The big winner at the PBR Australia Grand Finals was the Texas Rattlers’ Brady Fielder. Fielder only competed in six PBR Australia events in 2023, as he spent the summer and fall with the Rattlers competing in the PBR Camping World Team Series. Just two weeks earlier, he went 2-for-3 in Las Vegas as the Rattlers won the 2023 PBR Camping World Teams Championship.
But in six PBR Australia events, Fielder won two, including the Grand Finals, and finished No. 7 in the national standings.
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At the Grand Finals, he went 4-for-5, kicking things off with 82.25 points on Hawkeye in Round 1 and 84.25 points on Tropical Rash in Round 2. He won Round 3 with 87 points on Bluey before bucking off Dunno Yet in an agonizing 6.74 seconds. But he bounced back in the championship round, winning it with 87.75 points on Mr. T – the highest-scoring ride of the event.
For his troubles, Fielder took home $31,900 and his second buckle in two weeks.
Zane Hall went 1-for-4 at the Grand Finals to earn Rookie of the Year honors.
In the bull pen, Mr. T was named the 2023 YETI Rookie Bull of the Year, while After Dark was named the YETI High Dollar Bull of the Year. Dittmann Bucking Bulls had a huge showing, named the 2023 PBR Australia Contractor of the Year, while their star bovine, Cattle King Boogers Beach, was crowned the 2023 YETI Bucking Bull of the Year.
Stay tuned in to PBRAustralia.com.au and follow the tour on Facebook (PBR Australia), Twitter (@PBRAustralia), and Instagram (@PBRAustralia) for the latest results, news, stats and more.
PBR Australia Grand Finals
Townsville, Qld, 2023
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Round 5-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Brady Fielder, 82.25-84.25-87-0-87.75-341.25-338 Points.
2. Donovan Rutherfurd, 84.75-0-84.75-87-0-256.50-230 Points.
3. Aaron Kleier, 82.25-86.25-84-0-0-252.50-170 Points.
4. Macaulie Leather, 86.25-84-0-0-0-170.25-124 Points.
5. Qynn Andersen, 83-85.75-0-0-0-168.75-96 Points.
6. Mitchel Paton, 82.25-0-0-84.75-0-167.00-80 Points.
7. Bryn Francis, 0-82.5-0-82-0-164.50-66 Points.
8. JC Davis, 82.75-0-81-0-0-163.75-58 Points.
9. Kelsey Pavlou, 0-86.25-0-0-0-86.25-48 Points.
10. Fraser Babbington, 0-0-0-86-0-86.00-34 Points.
11. Zane Hall, 0-0-84.25-0-0-84.25-30 Points.
12. Kyle Hall, 0-0-0-84-0-84.00-24 Points.
13. Caiden Sandilands, 83.75-0-0-0-0-83.75-26 Points.
14. Bruno Roberto, 0-0-82.25-0-0-82.25-22 Points.
15. Lachlan Richardson, 0-81.5-0-0-0-81.50-18 Points.
16. Kurt Shephard, 64-0-0-0-0-64.00-6 Points.
Jackson Gray, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
James Stockdale, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Romario Leite, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Trefor Sproule, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Rylee Ward, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
Tyson Smith, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00
2023 Professional Bull Riders PBR Australia Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings)
1. Macaulie Leather, 25, 7, 18, 1,080.33, $171,807.54
2. Aaron Kleier, 20, 2, 14, 746.16, $84,048.07
3. Sam Woodall, 18, 6, 10, 556.49, $55,433.62
4. Kurt Shephard, 19, 1, 9, 534.00, $40,734.71
5. Cody Heffernan, 16, 2, 8, 467.00, $40,938.83
6. Lachlan Richardson, 18, 2, 11, 447.83, $39,763.56
7. Brady Fielder, 6, 2, 2, 391.83, $37,597.69
8. Donovan Rutherfurd, 3, 1, 2, 366.00, $39,450.00
9. Kelsey Pavlou, 17, 0, 7, 288.83, $27,250.13
10. Mitchel Paton, 12, 1, 3, 252.00, $14,184.79
11. Jake Curr, 12, 1, 5, 249.00, $15,485.67
12. Zane Hall, 20, 1, 4, 209.50, $12,644.83
13. Jackson Gray, 16, 0, 4, 207.83, $17,928.67
14. Bryn Francis, 17, 0, 1, 188.50, $9,389.67
15. Kyle Hall, 15, 0, 2, 169.00, $8,285.00
16. Bruno Roberto, 11, 0, 3, 168.50, $10,365.38
17. Clint Glass, 6, 2, 2, 168.16, $9,552.88
18. Caiden Sandilands, 9, 0, 2, 152.00, $10,000.83
19. James Stockdale, 13, 0, 3, 136.00, $9,642.88
20. JC Davis, 6, 0, 1, 127.50, $5,146.96
21. Romario Leite, 11, 0, 2, 125.00, $7,605.63
22. Fraser Babbington, 8, 0, 0, 124.50, $7,937.00
23. Trefor Sproule, 8, 0, 1, 107.00, $7,320.00
24. Qynn Andersen, 1, 0, 1, 96.00, $5,900.00
25. Rylee Ward, 8, 0, 1, 88.00, $7,945.00
26. Lane Mellers, 12, 0, 3, 78.50, $6,136.00
27. Will Purcell, 3, 0, 1, 55.00, $2,610.25
27. Tyson Smith, 13, 0, 1, 55.00, $2,575.00
29. Jack Keats, 16, 0, 1, 51.50, $3,237.08
30. Darcy McBean, 6, 0, 0, 44.66, $1,755.00
31. Phillipi Braga, 11, 0, 1, 41.00, $2,560.00
32. Thomas Hudson, 8, 0, 1, 38.00, $2,490.00
33. Beau Willis, 13, 0, 1, 33.00, $1,305.00
34. Toby Collins, 3, 0, 1, 30.00, $1,410.00
35. Clay Hall, 4, 0, 0, 26.50, $338.33
36. Riley Eade, 6, 0, 0, 24.50, $480.00
37. Jackson Field, 19, 0, 0, 22.50, $105.00
38. Dan Ruhland, 13, 0, 0, 18.33, $750.00
39. Toby Leake, 6, 0, 0, 17.00, $175.00
40. Troy Wilkinson, 4, 0, 1, 12.50, $875.00
41. Brody Woodard, 7, 0, 0, 11.50, $690.00
41. Oscar Leake, 2, 0, 1, 11.50, $525.00
43. Lachlan Burgess, 9, 0, 0, 11.00, $0.00
44. Italo Aguilar, 6, 0, 0, 10.00, $0.00
45. Darryl McPherson, 6, 0, 0, 9.00, $0.00
45. Isaac Leclair, 3, 0, 0, 9.00, $0.00
Photo courtesy of DSL Photography.
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