The only overcast day of the week was no dampener for the event which saw over 2200 people through the gate. The junior events sponsored by Safe & Secure Fencing, Lyons Ag Services, Little Red Tractor service and WJ Gibbs all saw an increase in competitors over previous years. The Joel Bradley Transport Poddy Rides drew keen interest from many young locals including Jake Waters, Tom Cairns, Jonno Coe, William Mortimer, Hailey Clarke, Ryan Blowse and Lucy Lionet, who bucked out on John McGlone’s stock.

The local events also got keen interest from local competitors. Braidwood Cattle Company steers kept the riders biting the dust and the pick-up horses wondering who was rounding up who in the Jason Griggs Earthmoving Local Steer Ride which was won by Harley Williams.

The all-ages Eureka Pizzeria Local Barrel Race was won by seasoned cowgirl Lani Hart, with Mateela Conroy placing 2nd and Ebony Bunt placing 3rd. The conditions were challenging for the Majors Creek Hotel barrel racers with slippery conditions causing a few to fall over. This combined with the extra competitors in the steer and poddy rides meant that the lunch break was shorter than in previous years. Lunch time entertainment provided by Wade Matthie was postponed to the afternoon tea break and the crowd was pleased by Mac the ride-able bull and tricks performed by Lightning, Vic and Shetland pony Sedrick.

The main event began after 1pm with the Nerriga Pub, Braidwood Weedspraying, Noakes Weedkill and Narellan Truck Align timed events. Entries in the female timed events were well up on previous years, whereas men’s events were about normal, except the Landmark Daniel Walker team roping which was slightly down on last year due to a northern team roping event. There was an increase in entries for the novice roughstock events despite the fact that some of the more challenging bulls were already occupied at a Sydney event.

Jake Williams placed 3rd in the Peter Young Transport Novice Bull ride. It was good to see an increase in the Tex’s Transport and J&M O’Connell Novice Bronc riding entries. Committee member Mouse Laurie took the opportunity to do a Poly Saddle Buckjump display on a spare novice horse and managed a few good cracks of the whip before the horse ground to a halt; he’d broken it in before he even got to the Sydney Flash.

The bull riding was a crowd pleaser as always with Tim Amey from Majors Creek placing 2nd in the Braidwood Services Club Open Bull Ride. The Braidwood Hotel Open Saddle Bronc and Born Vintage Open Bareback rides were also thrilling, with some performances running earlier than scheduled because of competitors needing to travel to the Sydney Show.

When all the rodeo action was done and dusted both competitors and spectators moved into the hall for a delicious dinner provided by Trish Young and the crew from Braidwood Polocrosse. The presentation of trophies and buckles followed dinner with the All Round Cowboy and Cowgirl being awarded to a brother and sister combo for the first time ever in the history of the zone. Due to cooler weather the day time bar takings were down although the night time revellers certainly made up for that keeping the bartenders busy until after midnight while the punters danced around to the tunes of Chalkie White.

The Rodeo Club would like to thank the volunteers and our Major Sponsors: Braidwood Soil Construction Services, Cortona Resources, Bendigo Wealth and Veolia Mulwaree Trust. We would also like to thank sponsors not mentioned above including Schmidt Quarries, John Hindmarsh, Dojo Bread, Braidwood Bakery and APEX for providing the BBQ. Thankyou also to Nick Black from Braidwood Soil Construction Services and Joel Bradley from Braidwood Earthmoving for helping with transport of seating and cattle and providing the water cart, Vardanega Carpentry for providing a skip bin, and to Pat Byrnes for carting and levelling the sand in the arena.