By The Numbers: 2024 Winton Way Out West Festival
By: Sean Walsh Thursday, April 4, 2024 @ 12:05 PM
As the PBR BAD Festival rolls back into Winton for the second year, the PBR Australia main tour returns for the first event since Beaudesert in Early March. The Eric Lenton Memorial Ground will be absolutely buzzing with anticipation throughout the two-night event, and with only three events remaining before PBR Origin qualification ends, it's sure to be an elite weekend of Professional Bull Riding.
In this week's edition of By The Numbers, PBRAustralia.com.au's Sean Walsh breaks down some mouth-watering battles to watch this weekend.
Matchups To Watch
Lijah Leather on Razor Sharp (CF7 Bucking Bulls)
This one shapes up to be one of the most blockbuster trips of Round 1 on Friday evening, with Lijah Leather looking to find his way back into a piece of the pie against one of the best bulls on the circuit without a shadow of a doubt from the CF7 Bucking Bulls' pen in Razor Sharp.
Leather has converted 1-from-4 so far in the calendar year, taking Bumble Bud (JD Bucking Bulls) the required distance for a 79-point marker during Round 1 in Cooyar. He also took Stitches (Woodall Rodeo Co) for 6.93 seconds in Bendigo in what is the QLDers' last trip going into this weekend on the PBRA tour, so you would assume the righty will take some confidence knowing he's not too far away.
Razor Sharp is a smaller bovine with a fantastic knack of turning the corner in a hurry and provides a fantastic challenge for any rider, but especially cowboys with their right hand in the bull rope with all five qualified rides coming against southpaws.
With the animal athlete showing a consistent quick low spin trip around to the left, Leather will want to get to the inside of the spin and find his seat early, hoping to even the score between the two after Razor Sharp bucked off the Calliope Cowboy in 2.06 seconds last year at Bloomsbury.
Sam Woodall on Witch Doctor (Dittmann Bucking Bulls)
Heywood's pride and joy Sam Woodall returns to one of the very few venue's around the country that the 8-time PBR Australia event winner hasn't been able to make the eight and will be hoping to add a PBR BAD Festival Winton buckle to his collection when he shares the chute with Witch Doctor from the Dittmann Bucking Bulls roster.
The bovine in question has an impressive 10-1 PBR record to date, with an average Bull Score of 42.08 points and an average BOT of 3.94 seconds, keeping in mind the only rider to cover this bull is current Missouri Thunder superstar Qynn Andersen, who grabbed an 85.75-point marker during last years Grand Final.
Stats Pack: Winton BAD 2024.pdf
The aforementioned Woodall has yet to hear the whistle in 2024. He made his only appearance to date in his home state of Bendigo last month, bucking off both his Round 1 trip on Boomstick in 2.43 seconds and then the following night on Lil Thing, who dislodged Woodall from his bullrope in 2.04 Seconds.
One thing you can never do in the sport of Bull Riding is count out a champion. With the bull's usual trip of two or three jumps towards the arena and then turning back to the right, don't be surprised if Woodall finds the whistle and gets his season underway toward an elusive first PBRA gold buckle.
Tyson Smith on Hell Raiser (TF Bucking Bulls)
Our opening ride slated on the daysheet for the weekend is an absolute belter of a way to kick off the weekend. Two evenly matched PBR athletes go toe-to-toe to get the Winton locals straight into the action on the first trip out of the gates.
Tyson Smith is currently 2-from-12 in 2024 after getting a score at both Cooyar (70-point effort on Titanium) and Beaudesert (81 Points vs Extraction) and is currently sitting 20th on the PBRA standings. The Walcha, NSW native, will be hoping to get a few more scores under his belt so he can keep climbing the ladder towards the top of the PBR Australia mountain this weekend.
On the other side of the equation is a bovine who will be returning to the arena for the first time in 2024. He currently boasts an unridden streak of 7 outs and a rapid BOT average of 3.26 seconds, with only one ride lasting past the halfway point of the allotted time thus far in his PBR career.
With Smith being a right-hander and Hell Raiser sitting in his favourite left delivery and ready to turn back to the right into the hand of the cowboy, it's going to be a mouth-watering way to get underway.
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