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The Toughest Origin on the Dirt returns for the first time in 2024 this weekend at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, with the best bull riders in the county battling it out for their teams.

With Game I holding a massive key to both teams gaining momentum into the rest of the series, this will be another hotly contested Origin event inside the walls of the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

Get everything you need to know ahead of Saturday Night's Origin I as Sean Walsh dives into this week's By The Numbers.

PBR Origin 101:

Each team consists of ten riders from each state, with riders qualifying through their ranking in the PBR Australia Standings thus far in 2024.

Riders can be eligible for selection via their state or birth being Queensland or New South Wales, or if a rider is born outside of those two states, they are required to nominate a state before their first PBRA event, with that becoming their adopted home team.

Before the first Origin of the year, PBR Australia selected two captains for both teams, with reigning Australian Champion and Clermont, Central Queensland native Macualie Leather leading the men in Maroon and PBRA Veteran and Gresford, NSW product Lachlan Richardson will lead the New South Welshman.

There will be two long rounds for each bull rider to attempt two bulls, with the top eight riders of the event riding from lowest to highest in the extra round to complete the night and the highest aggregate team across the three rounds the event winner.

See Daysheet Here

 

Matchups To Watch

Lachlan Slade (NSW) on AUST-073 Blinky BIll (ST Bucking Bulls) 

One of the most experienced PBR Origin riders at this level is Tamworth, NSW veteran Lachlan Slade, who will be sharing a chute with familiar foe Blinky Bill to open his 2024 Origin campaign.

Slade is currently a whopping 6-from-18 (33%) in his Origin career to date and will be looking to use that experience in the Origin teams concept to drag his New South Wales teammates with him and get them off to a good start in Round one.  

Blinky Bill is currently unridden in seven outs, with one of those against his Round 1 dance partner Slade in Toowoomba earlier this year with a 6.74 battle ending just short for the Cowboy.

The bovine has shown a nice trip around to the right, which will be into the hand of Lachlan, so look for him to even the score against the animal athlete and chalk a score for the men in blue chaps.

 

 

Zane Hall (QLD) on AURR-1011 Houston Calling (Ruhland Ranch) 

Athol, QLD Cowboy Zane Hall returns to the Origin arena after a solid start to season 2024, where the 2023 PBR Australia rookie of the year is firmly locked inside the top 10 and hoping to translate that across to the Origin events.

Houston Calling is a young bovine on the rise, currently sitting at 17-7 in his career, having bucked at plenty of Origin events in the past.

The two matched up at the same venue for Origin II last season, with the bovine getting the better of the North Queenslander, pushing him to the outside of the spin and getting called for the buckoff at 4.16 seconds.

Similarly to Slade's matchup earlier in the round, this bovine should be around to the left and into the hand of the southpaw and if he can find the middle, look for a nice score for the men in Maroon.

Follow @PBRAustralia on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with all the action across the 2024 PBR Origin Series and tune into the exclusive livestream of the event this Saturday Night HERE.