“Although we came up just short of the win to Brazil, this whole experience will inspire all of us to grow and take our riding to the next level. We shook up the world, next time we will take it,” says Team Australia’s Cody Heffernan.
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In an gutsy display Heffernan and his teammates came close to pulling off a monumental upset at the biggest bull riding event to hit our shores – the PBR Global Cup.
Staged in Sydney from June 9 – 10, team captain Gresford’s Cliff Richardson scored Saturday’s highest-marked ride on Blossom (Brandenburg Bucking Bulls) for 87.25 points.
But the second leg of the inaugural five nation tournament came down to the last out on Sunday night with Coonamble’s Nathan Burtenshaw “needing a monster ride” to overtake the star studded Brazilian team.
Burtenshaw made the whistle; the faithful erupted but the clutch ride – scoring a strong 84.75 points - fell short.
Team Brazil clinched a narrow 0.75-point victory to claim the Australian horn of the Global Cup trophy filled with the host nation’s soil. They also picked up a whopping $400 000 in prize money.
Hefferan who hails from Singleton and is the 2016 PBR Aussie Champion says it was one of the greatest experiences of his lengthy and successful career.
“Being apart of the team, seeing all the guys come together like we did was pretty special,” he says.
Playing his part in the team’s success after scoring 83.25 points on Lost Signal (Throsby & Russell Bucking Bulls) during Round 3.
Hefferan returned to his home town onTuesday with two special guests – 2015 PBR Australian champ Fraser Babbington and young gun, Bailey Woodard.
The three Team Australia members mingled with fans at the Imperial Hotel, graciously signing autographs and posing for photographs. Like Heffernan, Babbington made it count during Round 3 when he scored 84.5points on High Flying Akubra (John Gill & Sons).
However, now the dust has settled Burtenshaw was the best of the Aussies. He was the only rider to record three qualified rides throughout the two-night event, going 1-for-1 on Saturday and 2-for-2 on Sunday, including the critical 84.75-point score on SweetPro’s Enemies Everywhere (Throsby & Russell Bucking Bulls) in the final ride of the competition.
Finishing with an individual aggregate score of 244.5 and ranked 5th overall, three spots above team captain Richardson who notched up an aggregate average of 169.75 from two qualified rides across both nights.
Results:
- Overall team – 1. Brazil 1 006.5 points; 2. Australia 1 005.75 points, 3. Canada, 986.75 points, 4. USA 924 points, 5. Mexico 501.25 points;
- Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Individual Event Aggregate: 1. Kaique Pacheco, 81.25-83-84.75-85-334; 2. Tanner Byrne, 79.50-83.5-82.5-86-331.5; 3. Cooper Davis, 85-86.5-86.5-0-258; 4. Luciano De Castro, 83.75-0-83.25-82-249; 5. Nathan Burtenshaw, 78.25-0-81.5-84.75-244.5; 6. Jared Parsonage, 68.5-82.25-80.5-0-231.25; 7. Jorge Valdiviezo, 85.5-0-84.75-0-170.25; 8. Cliff Richardson, 87.25-0-82.5-0-169.75; 9. Matt Triplett, 84-0-85.25-0-169.25 ; 10. Jose Vitor Leme, 84-0-84-0-16811. Claudio Montanha Jr., 82.25-0-85.5-0-167.75; 12. Eduardo Aparecido, 83-0-84.25-0-167.25; 13. Brock Radford, 80-0-86-0-166; 14. Brennon Eldred, 81-0-84.25-0-165.25; 15. Aaron Kleier, 0-0-86.5-0-86.5; 16T. Juan Carlos Contreras, 0-0-84.75-0-84.75; 16T. Lachlan Richardson, 0-0-84.75-0-84.75; 18. Fraser Babbington, 0-0-84.5-0-84.5; 19T. Ramon de Lima, 83.75-0-0-0-83.75; 19T. Justin Paton, 83.75-0-0-0-83.75; 21T. Dakota Buttar, 0-0-83.5-0-83.5; 21T. Stetson Lawrence, 83.5-0-0-0-83.5; 23. Cody Heffernan, 0-0-83.25-0-83.25; 24T. Gustavo Pedrero, 0-83-0-0-83; 24T. Mitchel Paton, 83-0-0-0-83; 26T. Jess Lockwood, 82.75-0-0-0-82.75; 26T. Derek Kolbaba, 82.75-0-0-0-82.75; 28. Cody Nance, 0-0-82.5-0-82.5; 29. Zane Lambert, 82.25-0-0-0-82.25 .