Sam Woodall Dominates at PBR Australia’s Inaugural Bad Festival in Coonamble
By: Luke Lum
COONAMBLE, NSW – The small outback town of Coonamble, New South Wales, had its first-ever taste of PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Australia action with the inaugural PBR’s Bulls, Bands, and Bikes After Dark (BAD) Festival, where an in-form Sam Woodall (Heywood, VIC) consolidated his first place on the PBR Monster Energy Tour national standings.
In an electric first round on Friday night, where nine riders held on for the whole 8 seconds, the 24-year-old Victorian posted an 85-point ride atop I’m Cool (Lazy G Bucking Bulls). He equaled Lachlan Richardson’s (Gresford, NSW) 85-point ride on Village Idiot (Diamond S Bucking Bulls) from earlier in the evening.
Saturday night didn’t start well for the Victorian, who was unable to cover Posting Bail (Throsby & Russell Bucking Bulls), a bull he was previously bucked off in 2019. It took just 3.78 seconds for the bull to dispose of Woodall, scoring 43 points and coming in third in the bull rankings for the event.
It was four-time PBR Australia Champion Aaron Kleier (Clermont, QLD) who topped the leaderboard in a tough Round 2 with an 82.5-point ride on Mayne Man (Throsby & Russell Bucking Bulls).
Woodall bounced back when it mattered most in the championship round, covering Smokeshow (Maynes Bucking Bulls) for an event-high score of 86 points and securing the event win at PBR’s first-ever outing in Coonamble.
“It fires me up to see the guys do good, and nothing better than seeing Jakey (Curr) smash one, and then Lachy (Richardson). It was awesome,” a humble Woodall said during the presentation.
“It fires me up; it fires us all up. We all like to see each other do good, and I’m very thankful to have great competition.”
Woodall leads the field in the national standings, securing 131 points and extending his lead to 78 points over the second-placed Richardson.
In the bullpen, Wetzel (Throsby & Russell Bucking Bulls) took out the Bull of the Event honors with a score of 44.50 for bucking off Toby Collins (Maldon, VIC) in just 1.86 seconds.
Not all the action was in the arena in Coonamble, with festival-goers being treated to some of Australia’s premier country music artists on the stage. Central West product Robbie Mortimer opened up musical proceedings on both days of the festival. He set the tone for Hayley Jensen and Amy Sheppard on Friday night and James Van Cooper, Andrew Swift, Andrew Farriss and Melanie Dyer on Saturday night.
Up in the air, Sydney’s Freestyle Kings had the Coonamble crowd holding their breath as World Champion FMX athlete Pat Bowden defied gravity with his stunts, including a double-backflip.
For Bowden, PBR’s BAD was his first time back performing on the bike after a few months off due to surgery.
“I’m feeling really good,” Bowden said. “I had two serious shoulder injuries, so considering that, I feel really good, happy to be here and happy to throw down.”
PBR Australia General Manager Glen Young was pleased with the success of their first BAD Festival and hopes to see the event back again in the future.
“It was a great weekend in Coonamble. It all came together with great numbers, and it brought a lot to the community,” Young said. “Overall, it was great to bring a premium product to the outback, which is our heartland. It’s where we want to be and stay in touch with in the future.
“Coonamble is very much a bull riding town, and that’s what they showed up to see, and our PBR cowboys stood up and got the job done on the bulls. Sam Woodall is in hot form and is going to be one of the true contenders for the title this 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.
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