PBR Australia tour stops in Far North Queensland rarely disappoint, and the 2025 edition of the Monster Energy Cairns Invitational looks no different.

This event consistently rates as one of the best stops on tour. We get to watch one of the rankest bull pens of the season, and the cowboys usually respond, delivering above-average ride scores at a high percentage.

The main performance will begin at 7:00 p.m. AEST on Saturday, 19 July 2025, inside the Cairns Convention Centre.

For those fans with VIP on the Dirt tickets, access to the arena for an exclusive meet-and-greet opportunity with riders, contractors, and an all-star bucking bull will begin at 5:00 p.m. AEST.

Event Information and Tickets are available from the PBR Australia website.

Event History

For the past two seasons, this event has served as Game 3 of the PBR Origin series. 

In 2024, it was Braydon Wellby who finished atop the aggregate leaderboard. The Queenslander held off Lachlan Richardson and Rylee Ward with a 2-for-2 performance across the long rounds. He then went on to cover Ambush (MJ/Keliher Bucking Bulls) for 86.50 points in the bonus round to remain perfect on the night.

MJ and Keliher Bucking Bulls' Forever Young was the high-marked bull, awarded 44 points in his opening round matchup with Thomas Hudson.

Sam Woodall picked up the buckle in 2023 for New South Wales. He was the only rider to finish the long rounds 2-for-2 and made no mistakes in the bonus round, covering Ambush (MJ/Keliher Bucking Bulls) for 88 points. Twelve riders finished the event with one qualified ride with Macaulie Leather and Lachlan Richardson the best placed.

Cattle King Roid Rage won his third high-marked bull of the night award for the season for Dittmann Bucking Bulls. He scored 44.5 points in the second round against Kelsey Pavlou.

The last time the individual format was contested, Aaron Kleier picked up his second Cairns Invitational win when he shared the 2022 honour with Jake Curr. Both riders finished with 172 points after going 2-for-3 on the night. Qynn Andersen and Brady Fielder also finished the night with two scores.

Other past event winners include Lawson Nobbs (Origin II - 2021), Jason Mara (2018), Kurt Shephard (2017) and Justin Paton (2015).

View the latest results from PBR Australia competition here.

Format, Prizemoney and Points

Thirty-four cowboys will contest the 2025 Monster Energy Cairns Invitational, and there is almost $40,000 in prizemoney up for grabs. 

All riders will face a bull in Round 1, with the top 12 returning to draft a second bull to face in the Championship Round. 

A maximum of 280 points will be available to any individual rider towards the 2025 PBR Australian National Standings. Each round winner will receive 40 points, and the event winner will receive 200 points.

Watch all the action on PBR Australia’s YouTube Channel and Live Stream page from 7:00 p.m. AEST on Saturday.

Talking Points

Gold Buckles and Grand Finals Qualification

With the teams' season behind us, it's time to focus on the race to Townsville and the 2025 PBR Australia Grand Finals.

The top two-ranked riders on the PBR Australian National Standings have built a large gap between themselves and the rest of the field over the last few months. Mareeba's Kurt Shephard is the current leader on 1511.33 points, and he holds a 222-point advantage over the No. 2-ranked Luan Crystian Camara. The Brazilian talent also has a commanding lead in the Rookie of the Year standings.

Young-guns Zane Hall, Ben Bode and Rylee Ward sit 4th through 6th in the standings, but they are between 718 and 880 points adrift of Shephard. If they want to get their name into contention for the gold buckle, they need to hit the accelerator.

Riders ranked No. 8 through No. 16 are all within about 200 points of each other, so there are considerable gains to be made if any of them can pick up the event win. 

Only the top 25 riders in the standings are guaranteed a place in the Grand Finals in October, so if any of the riders around the bubble can produce some solid performances over the coming months it should ease the pressure and ensure they qualify for the big dance in October.

The Bull Power

This weekend we will see bulls from some of Australia's premier Stock Contractors, including three-time PBR Australia Stock Contractor of the Year Dittmann Bucking Bulls, 2024 PBR Australia Stock Contractor of the Year CF7 Bucking Bulls, MJ and Keliher Bucking Bulls, Dunne Bulls, Kleier Bucking Bulls and T&F Bucking Bulls.

While the long round features a nice mix of bulls that should give most of the cowboys a chance to get a score on the board, the Championship Round pen is one of the most exciting we will get to see all year. 

Headlining the final round are 2022 PBR Australia Bucking Bull of the Year Cattle King Roid Rage (Dittmann), 2024 winner Mr T (Dittmann), the current leader of the 2025 race Alpha Blokes Warden (MJ/Keliher), the leading Classic Bull of the season Moosey's Moto Moto (MJ/Keliher) and rider favourite Ambush (CF7).

Make sure you check out ‘The Morning Line’ on the PBR Australia website on Saturday for in-depth analysis of the highlight matchups for the 2025 Monster Energy Cairns Invitational.

For the latest results, news and stats, stay tuned to PBRAustralia.com.au, follow the tour on Facebook (PBR Australia), Instagram (@PBRAustralia) and TikTok (@PBRAustralia) and subscribe to @ProBullRidersAust on YouTube for live events, replays and highlights.