Hunter cowboy Cliff Richardson has booked his place in the nation’s biggest Professional Bull Riding event of the year – the crowning PBR Grand Finals in Townsville later this month.
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Richardson of Gresford, and Singleton’s Cody Heffernan have qualified to compete at the flagship event on November 23 and 24 from which the Australian national champion will be decided.
Off the back of an impressive year on the 2018 PBR Australia Tour, Richardson and Heffernan officially made the top-18 Australian rider cutoff.
The event attracts Australia’s top riders, as well as four key internationals, for a head-to-head battle that will ultimately decide the 2018 PBR Australia National Champion title.
To date the Hunter duo are the only two competitors flying the flag for NSW at the Grand Finals, with the roster dominated by Queenslanders. They will join a stellar field, including such big names as Queensland riders Aaron Kleier (Clermont), brothers Mitchell and Justin Paton (Nebo) and Ryan Storey (Mackay), as well as 2015 PBR Australia Champion Fraser Babbington.
International riders confirmed for Townsville include former Brazilian No.2 Lucas Divino, and fellow Brazilian riders Junior Quaresima and Rubens Barbosa.
Throughout 2018, the battle for this year’s Australian title has remained neck-and-neck between four key riders – Kleier, Richardson, Babbington and Heffernan – and all remain in contention to take out the top prize.
“The fight for the Aussie title is at full throttle pace – it’s down to the wire,” PBR Australia General Manager, Glen Young said. “All have their eye on the prize – so we expect to see some exceptional efforts.
Heffernan took out the Australia title in 2016, while Richardson has finished inside the top five on multiple occasions – his best year-end ranking being No.4 in both 2013 and 2014.