A clutch ride in the dying stages of Origin III from Sam Woodall has landed New South Wales their first PBR Origin Series victory in front of a parochial ICC Sydney Theatre crowd on Saturday night.
The Blues side, coached by seven-time PBR World Finals Qualifier Lachlan Richardson, lost Origin I at Newcastle by two rides before rallying late to outlast the Maroons in Origin II at Brisbane to even the series at 1-all.
And they kept that momentum going in Origin III at Sydney to win just their fourth PBR Origin game and snap Queensland's five-year title reign with the scoreboard reading 500.25 points to 419.50 as the dust settled.
Woodall was the star for the Blues in his return to the Origin arena. After spending months on the sidelines dealing with a groin injury, the Heywood talent set the tone in the opening trip of the night. He covered On Bail (Swain Cattle Company) into his hand for 85 points to give the Blues the early lead in Round 1.
Eventual Origin III event winner Zane Hall opened his account and got Queensland on the board a few rides later with a brilliant 85.50 point ride into his hand aboard War Drums (Maynes Bucking Bulls).
The Blues picked up the next two qualified rides to build a healthy lead through the middle section of the round.
First, Tyson Smith combined with Never Land (Morgys Cattle Company) for 82.25 points. Unfortunately, the Walcha talent emerged from the battle with a badly fractured ankle and faces an extended stint on the sidelines.
We then saw Luan Crystian Camara make an excellent ride for the Blues, with the Brazilian becoming just the fourth cowboy to cover Tropical Rash (Dunne Bulls). He added 84.25 valuable points to the Blues' total with the bull turning back away from his hand.
The Maroons' second score came courtesy of a re-ride opportunity for Bryn Francis. The Moura bull rider made the whistle aboard Exit Light (Morgys Cattle Company), but the bull didn't have his best day, and just 76 points plus a re-ride option were awarded by the judges. A quick discussion with coach Jared Borghero resulted in him taking that option, and he converted Vanilla Ice (MC Bucking Bulls) into 82.25 points shortly after.
The fourth score for the home team in the opening round came from Diego Galdino.The hard-working Brazilian added 83.75 points with his ride on Winchester (Keliher Bucking Bulls) to send the Blues into the sheds with a 335.25 points to 167.75 lead.
Round 2 started with a string of buck-offs as the bull power increased.
Zane Hall took full advantage of another favourable draw, making no mistakes aboard All The Rage (Diamond S Bucking Bulls) for 85 points. The Athol cowboy moved to 170.50 points in the individual aggregate and pushed Queensland to within striking distance of the lead.
Shortly after, Tumut’s Dylan Weir extended the Blues' advantage back to two scores after he rode Haymaker (MC Bucking Bulls) for 79.50 points. A re-ride opportunity was offered, but it was quickly declined, and the score remained on the board.
That lead was quickly trimmed back to one score when Rockhampton talent Caiden Sandilands gritted out a courageous 82.25 points on Thickshake (MC Bucking Bulls) with the bull attempting to fake him out of position multiple times before settling into a left-handed spin.
The bulls again dominated the closing stages of the round, and the Blues went into the final break with a slender 414.75 points to 335.00 advantage over the Maroons.
With the margin just 79.75 points entering the Bonus Round, the Maroons needed at least one of their four remaining riders to get the job done.
Rylee Ward answered the call and produced the ride that Queensland needed. The Kiwi made a superb 84.50-point effort aboard Zuece (Lazy G Bucking Bulls) to put his adopted state into the lead for the first time since early in the opening round.
The bulls bucked off the following two pairings, and we were down to the final two trips of the night with the teams separated by just 4.75 points.
Sam Woodall was the last man to ride for the Blues, and he went into his matchup with Some Gave All (Dunne Bulls) full of confidence, with the bull’s pattern suggesting he would turn back in either direction, but buck at a nice tempo. The gate cracked, and the bull turned back away from his hand. Woodall looked to have a great seat and eight seconds later, the buzzer sounded and the capacity crowd were in a frenzy - 85.50 points and New South Wales was back in the lead.
Just one man remained, Zane Hall for Queensland, and his matchup with MSG Locating Filthy Rich didn't look as favourable as Woodall's, but after going 2-for-2 across the long rounds, he had the hot hand. He called for the gate, and the bull turned back away from his hand. Despite having a great seat for the opening seconds, the bull got the better of him at 4.94 seconds.
The New South Wales team had done it and become the 2025 PBR Origin Champions.
“Hard work and belief go a long way in this sport,” a visibly proud Blues coach, Lachlan Richardson, told the crowd.
“These boys never lost hope when they got behind, they just never stopped believing in themselves, and when you have a team like that, that backs each other, they are always going to be strong.”
“They never quit and had fun riding some bucking bulls," he chirped.
After five straight years of domination by the Maroons, the jubilation was evident when the Blues hoisted the PBR Origin Trophy high for the first time in the centre of the arena.
The mood in the Queensland camp was in stark contrast to that of their opponents, but coach Jared Borghero knows that his young team will bounce back strong next year.
“That hurt", he said dejectedly. "But I’m so proud of these boys.”
“Full credit to New South Wales – They showed up.”
“We knew they were going to crack us one day, and it's just unfortunate that it was this year,” he continued.
“A big congratulations to the Blues.”
Luan Crystian Camara was crowned Cowboy of Origin and collected a $30,000 bonus. The flashy Brazilian went 3-for-6 across the long rounds of PBR Origin with his aggregate total of 252.25 points, enough to hold off a fast-finishing Zane Hall, who finished runner-up on 251.50 points.
Alpha Blokes Warden (MJ/Keliher Bucking Bulls and Alpha Blokes) cemented his place atop the Bucking Bull of the Year standings with his fifth YETI ABBI High Marked Bull of the Night for the 2025 season. He was outstanding in his Round 2 matchup with a very sticky Sam Woodall and was marked 44 points in 4.99 seconds.
View the Full Results from Origin III and the updated 2025 PBR Australian National Standings.
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