Sport
10 November, 2025
Bullride final draws thousands
THOUSANDS of people turned out for an epic bullriding final showdown at the weekend, packing out the Atherton Showgrounds.
The Great Northern Bullriding Series final turned out to be one of the most exciting events to date, with close competition giving cowboys the extra nudge they needed to give it their all.
It was local cowboy Braydon Wellby who claimed the Open Bullride title and championship buckle after a strong year of riding.
Series director Peter Brown said it was one of the more thrilling nights for bullriding the event had seen.
“The buckles went right down to the wire. We had blokes sitting at third in the standings who came through and won,” he said.
“All through the night it was just up and down, with people riding time and then that put pressure on the bloke who was leading, so it was just a good night all-round, great for a final.”
He said there were at least 2,500-3,000 people who filled up the area around the arena.
“You couldn’t fit any more than that, it was absolutely packed,” Mr Brown said.
“Everything went really well. There was just the one injury throughout the night, one cowboy broke his leg, but other than that everything went smoothly.
“We’d never done the whole area as liquor-licensed, so it was good, it took a bit of pressure off the bar, but there was still a lot of people there.
“But I’m happy to be finished, it’s been a big year.”
Event Winners:
Open – Leith Malone
Novice – Jake Simpson
Junior – Tomas Shaw
11-U14 – Joel Jaszczyszyn, Nate Lawson and Levi Murray
8-U11 – Weston Hilditch and Chase Whitehouse
Series Winners:
Open – Braydon Wellby
Novice – Tristan Pye
Junior – Josh Snell
11-U14 – Nate Lawson
8-U11 – Weston Hilditch
