Aussies Abroad: April 18th 2024

 

 
With the 2024 PBR World Finals pushing closer to the starting line and a season-high of three Aussies turning out in last weekend's UTB, it was all smiles with one big league debut and two others punching their ticket to the pay window.

Get all the lowdown in this week's edition of Aussie Abroad.

 

Unleash The Beast Tour: Billings, MT

As the PBR UTB Tour train invaded Billings, MT, some familiar faces appeared on the day sheet for us Aussies. Brady Fielder and Callum Miller turned out for their 20th and 10th events of the 2024 major individual season, respectively.

The event also marked the PBR Major debut for young gun and current Australian #3 Ben Bode, the third Australian to compete in this season's UTB Tour.

Round one saw Bode nod his head first of the Australians when the Calliope Cowboy took to a UTB bucking chute for the first time against Highwire (Hale / Berryman / Nuckols / Ogden / Hart). 

Going into the first evening at Billings parked on a four-out buckoff streak, the bovine got the better of Bode. Coming out of the chutes with a big jump, the bovine turned away from the leftie's hand to get the Queenslander down in 3.30 seconds.

Meanwhile, it was a better evening for Brady Fielder, with the Texas Rattler gaining a score to end night one at First Interstate Arena. 

Initially drawing Jersey Tuff (McClellan / Lidgard / Hart) in the opening stanza, Fielder was gifted a re-ride opportunity after a Foul for hip contact and made the most of his new dance partner in Buffalo Chip (Blake Sharp / Robbie Ray / Doug Wilson).

Having only been covered four times in twenty trips by right-handed Cowboys, Fielder bucked the trend and took Buffalo Chip away from his hand for a comfortable eight-second out to gain 84 points.

Rd 1 Billings: Brady Fielder 84 Points on Buffalo Chip

 

Callum Miller, at his second event back in the big leagues after spending time on the Velocity Tour during March, was rounding out night one for the Australian representation.

Paired with the Warwick native in both name and chute was Miller Time (A&E Bucking Bulls / BS Cattle Co), a formidable bovine boasting an impressive 27-3 record on the UTB tour as it headed into Montana. 

Miler was unable to add a black mark to the bull's numbers, with animal athlete following the gate and looked left for the first two to three jumps before chucking his trip in reverse, pushing Callum to the outside of the spin and inevitably ejecting him at the 4.64-second marker. 

As night two dawned on the Montanan UTB event, the script flipped with Callum Miller calling for his bull first in Round 2, taking on Fort Knox (D&H Cattle Co / Tripp Ranch / RF Livestock).

The former PBR Canada finalist broke a 17-out buckoff streak in the elite tour, doing enough to hear the whistle on Saturday evening.

Rd 2 Billings: Callum Miller 78.75 Points on Fort Knox

After the D&H Cattle Co / Tripp Ranch / RF Livestock pen member came out left and never settled into a consistent trip, Miller did well to drag 78.75 points from the bovine, setting himself up for a chance to save the cut line and get to Championship Sunday.

Unfortunately, Ben Bode's inaugural elite event ended in Round 2, with the 20-year-old unable to find the whistle on Karizma (Triplett Bucking Bulls/Melvy). 

Coming out, turning back left towards the chutes, and half stumbling, it was less than a clean trip for the bovine, but he did enough to eject Bode in 4.02 seconds.

To add insult to injury, Ben came down hard, clutching his shoulder/collarbone, and had to be helped out of the arena by Sports Medicine.

Brady Fielder's Round 2 assignment was to share the chute with Huckleberry from Blake Sharp / UB Bucking Company's bovine rotation to bookend the second evening for the Green and Gold lads.

It was a matchup that proved as good on the dirt as it did on paper. Brady made the eight and went two-from-two, with Huckleberry starting strong and then, around the five-second mark, turning back and fading out to gift a 73-point RR option that was passed up by the rider. 

Going into Championship Sunday, Miller was first on the bill at Billings for Round 3, facing Jelly Roll (D&H Cattle Company).

It was a matchup that looked out of the cowboy's depth on paper, with the bovine getting a 44-point Bull Score when he bucked off current World #1 Cassio Dias the night prior.

Miller made one of the best rides of his career thus far, weathering the early storm of Jelly Roll half turning back to the right and straightening into a perfect anti-clockwise trip for Miller to get into his hand and go to work for 87.5 points and punch his Short-Go ticket.

Rd 3 Billings: Callum Miller 87.5 Points on Jelly Roll

Fellow Australian Fielder was paired with Sometimes I Fly (Plummer / Hart Cattle Co.) to start his third day at First Interstate Arena.

The bovine was able to get the best of Brady and extend his buckoff streak to 11, exploding out of the chutes away from the hand of the righty and getting the buckoff marker at 3.87 seconds.

As the event moved into the Short-Go money round at Montana, Fielder was looking to move up the pay docket with a matchup against a bovine from D&H Cattle Co Snake Eyes. 

With an exceptional 17-0 record in the UTB against right-handers going into the out, it again showed why it's one of the hardest bulls on the tour to cover with your right hand in the bull rope.

Brady was there for the first 4 seconds of the trip but could not stay in the middle of the bull, falling to the outside of the spin and getting called for a touch at 5.42 seconds.

Miller also suffered the same result, coming off the formidable Rustic Pearl in 2.79 seconds. The bovine grabbed a whopping 46.25 bull marker to end the Aussies' weekend. 

Miller finished eighth, going 2-from-4 for the weekend (166.25pt event aggregate). He collected 32.5 UTB Points and pushed himself up to 36th in the World Standings.

Fielder's 9th overall result of 2-from-4 (157.25pt event aggregate) ensured he held his top 10 position in the World Standings, now sitting 9th in the World with a 37% Ride percentage on the Elite tour in 2024 (20-from-54)

The UTB Tour will move to Everett, Washington, with action on Thursday and Friday afternoon AEST.