Down Under cowboys show up strong in Vegas

Once again, the YETI Junior National Finals Rodeo has an international feel to it. In addition to a number of bronc riders from Canada, this year’s roughstock field featured 14 competitors from Australia.

They are part of a growing contingent of cowboys from Down Under that have been a presence in Las Vegas ever since Australians first competed at the Junior NFR in 2018.

“We didn’t have mini bulls in Australia until 2016 so we were pretty green,” said Matt Doak, who runs Doak’s Mini Bulls in New South Wales. “We’d only been riding calves and steers. But as our bulls are getting better our kids are getting better. Our junior program is getting better and better back home.”

The progress is noticeable. Back in 2018 there were five bull riders representing Australia at the Junior NFR; this year the number is 14, with seven bull riders and seven bronc riders.

Their mini bull program has produced a handful of Junior NFR champions, runners-up and round winners over the years.

Sid Geran added his name to the list Sunday when he won the second round of the 12-13 division of bull riding with an 85.5-point ride on S&S Mini Bulls’ Kickapoo.

“That was a nice bull to ride,” said Geran, who has been riding bulls for four years. “After that I just feel more confident. I’m here to win.”

Geran’s ride was the bright spot in what has been a tough week for the Australian bull riders. As Geran ran back to the chutes after his ride, though, Doak and his blue-shirted country mates were celebrating as if they had just won the round.

“It’s been a bit down this week in the camp because we’ve struggled a bit,” Doak noted, “but everyone was lifted after seeing that.”

The camp will get two more chances to celebrate Monday as both Geran and Cade Ferguson qualified for the short go-round. Ferguson won the second round of Novice saddle bronc riding with a 77.0 and is second in the average with 148.0 points on two head.

Ferguson is part of a growing contingent of bronc riders from Down Under. Doak admits his bronc riders have a “long ways” to go before catching up to the rest of the competitors at the Junior NFR, but bareback rider Toby Deudney was a reserve champion here a few years ago and now competes for Odessa College. And seeing his kids take that next step is what Doak envisions.

“What we’re doing now is we’re getting more and more kids into the sport,” he said. “Being able to come to events like this gives the kids something to work for. It’s an avenue to help them get into colleges.

“For any of these juniors they need to go through the system …junior events, then into college, then into the PRCA or PBR. We’re getting a lot of guys from Australia into colleges.”

Doak credits the mini bull riding stock contractors, from Leal’s Junior Bull Riding, which is the longtime sponsor of the event at the YETI Junior NFR, to 5F Bucking Bulls out of Gillette, Wyoming, for working with him as he continues to grow his mini bull stock.

“Me coming over here and just meeting people has helped me realize where I have to get the stock to,” Doak said. “And where we have to get the kids back home to for them to be competitive here. We’ve got mini bulls as good as any of these, but we don’t have the depth right through.

“We’re just trying to get the kids where they can be competitive here because it’s a long way and a lot of money,” he added. “For these families to come over here it’s probably ten grand. But you want to come over and be competitive. We’re going to keep getting better.”

In addition to sending a record number of competitors to Las Vegas this year, Australia also had its first bullfighter at the YETI Junior NFR in Dustin Oots.

“I used to come over (to the United States) and ride bulls for the Leals,” Oots said. “But I had a bit of a bull riding accident, and when I was laid up I decided I wanted to fight ‘em more than ride ‘em. I went along that path instead and I’ve been fighting ‘em 18 months now.”

Oots spent the past six months training in Oklahoma before coming to Vegas to keep bull riders safe. What’s next for the 18-year-old?

“I think I’ll spend a couple more years in Australia fighting bulls and then come back over here,” he said. “That’s the plan.”

There’s no telling how many Australians he’ll be protecting in the arena by then.