05.29.26 - Feature
2026 PBR Origin Series Kicks Off in Newcastle
Blues and Maroons Set for Blockbuster Game 1 Clash.
By Josh Hanson
The 2026 PBR Australia Monster Energy Origin Series gets underway this weekend, with Newcastle playing host to the first game of the best-of-three series for the fourth time.
Game 1 between New South Wales and Queensland will take place inside the Newcastle Entertainment Centre on Saturday, May 30, 2026, starting at 7:00 p.m.
Following their historic PBR Origin Series win in 2025, the Blues will be hoping to build on that momentum with victory in front of a sold-out home crowd. The Maroons, who suffered their first-ever loss, will be keen to exact revenge with a big win in enemy territory.
Fans who purchased VIP On The Dirt tickets will have access to the arena starting at 5:00 p.m. for an exclusive pre-show that includes a chance to meet and greet riders, contractors, and an all-star bucking bull.
The Can-Am Junior Academy will also hold an exhibition Origin during the main performance, with four riders from each state going head-to-head across the Pee Wee, Junior, Senior and Rising Stars divisions.
Event information and tickets are available from the PBR Australia website.
Download the Watch PBR Australia LIVE app to watch the 2026 Monster Energy Tour and 2026 PBR Origin Series from your VR headset, mobile, tablet device, or cast to your TV. Visit watchvr.pbraustralia.com.au to secure your season pass.
Before Team New South Wales emerged victorious in 2025, Team Queensland firmly controlled the PBR Origin trophy, winning each of the five series.
In 2019, the first PBR Origin was held in Sydney, and the Maroons beat the Blues. They followed that up with a 2-0 win in the 2021 series. Queensland won the 2022 and 2023 series 2-1, and they won the 2024 series with a perfect 3-0 sweep of the games.
After losing their home opener in Newcastle, the 2025 Blues recovered to win in Sydney and Brisbane, earning their first series win 2-1.
Lachlan Slade won the first-ever Cowboy of Origin trophy for New South Wales in 2021 after going three out of four in the long rounds. With a remarkable 5-from-6 series, Queensland young gun Qynn Andersen led all cowboys in 2022. In 2023, Maroon's captain Aaron Kleier won the top rider award with a 4-from-6 performance. Queenslander Ben Bode took home the $30,000 bonus following his 3-from-6 effort across the 2024 series.
Last year, Luan Crystian Camara was awarded the title of 2025 Cowboy of Origin. The Brazilian proved to be a strong asset for the Blues after he went 3-for-6 across the long rounds to narrowly hold off the fast-finishing Queenslander Zane Hall.
Winners of PBR Origin events in Newcastle include Qynn Andersen (2022), Macaulie Leather (2023), and Clint Glass (2024). Luan Crystian Camara and Thomas Triplett shared the victory in 2025 with a two-bull aggregate total of 168 points.
Read about New South Wales’s historic 2025 PBR Origin Win
Each Origin event will feature three rounds of competition. In Rounds 1 and 2, each team's 10 riders will try one bull each. The top 4 riders from each team on the overall leaderboard will advance to the Bonus Round for a final out.
The state that achieves the highest combined score across the three rounds of competition will be declared the winners and will hold a 1-0 series lead heading into Origin II in Brisbane next weekend.
Riders will compete for over $50,000 in prize money at each PBR Origin event, plus points towards the 2025 PBR Australian National Standings. Event points will be up for grabs in Rounds 1 and 2 only, and the individual event winner will be the cowboy with the highest aggregate score following the second round of competition.
There has been a change to the format of the Cowboy of Origin competition for the 2026 series. In the past, the rider with the highest aggregate score across the six long rounds would take home the bonus, however this year, Bonus Rounds will be included. The 2026 Cowboy of Origin will receive a $30,000 bonus.
View the updated 2026 PBR Australian National Standings.
Tighter Competition
Although the 2025 series victory may have come as a surprise to many fans, Team New South Wales had been edging closer to victory over the past few seasons. The gap between themselves and Team Queensland has closed drastically in several key areas of competition leading into the beginning of the 2026 series.
Throughout the first ten Origin matches, Queensland's margin of victory was 2.4 qualified rides. That margin has been reduced to less than one ride in the most recent five matchups.
In the same time frame, the riding percentage of Queensland decreased from 37.08% to 27.50%, while New South Wales remained relatively consistent at 27.08% and 24.16%.
For the Maroons, it is a significant decline of 2.2 qualified rides per event. That probably only serves to highlight how stacked those early Queensland sides were, as the current percentages are much more in line with the PBR Australia tour averages.
The Average Ride Score for both Team Queensland and Team New South Wales has always been close, but the Blues have been ahead since the middle of the 2024 season. Through fifteen games, they scored an average of 83.78 points, while the Maroons have scored an average of 83.63 points.
Presently, there are twelve riders tied for the most appearances in PBR Origin competition with nine games each.
This weekend, Kurt Shephard, Macaulie Leather, and Zane Hall from Queensland, as well as Clint Glass, Lachlan Slade, and Thomas Hudson from New South Wales, will all reach a record ten games.
All eyes will be on Kurt Shephard across this series as he looks to move into the lead as the rider with the most qualified rides in PBR Origin competition. Aaron Kleier currently leads the way with 18 scores at 66.67%, Shephard has made 14 rides at 58.33% with Lachlan Richardson next on 12 scores at 42.86%.
Additionally, those Shephard, Kleier and Richardson are all tied for PBR Origin rides marked 85 points or higher on eight rides each. Therefore, it is possible that Shephard could establish himself as the leader in that category.
There has been a bit of a change over recent years with the average number of qualified rides needed to win a PBR Origin match. From 2019 to 2023, the average sat at 9.1 scores, but it has since dropped to 7 scores.
This season, the cowboys are on track to record their highest season riding percentage since the 2021 season, so we may see the number of scores required to win back up to 8 qualified rides.
The two highest team scores across the past two series were both set by Queensland in 2024 with 679.50 at Cairns and 665.50 at Brisbane. If either team can land above those totals, I am confident they will be heading to Brisbane next weekend with a 1-nil series advantage.
View the latest PBR Australia Event Results.
View the team announcement for Team New South Wales
Jake Swan replaced by Thomas Hudson.
Lachlan Richardson, will once again serve as the coach of the Blues. The task for New South Wales this year should feel a little easier now that the pressure has been relieved following their 2025 PBR Origin victory. They just need to focus on keeping the momentum going, and their confidence as a team will continue to grow.
As has been the case in the last few series, they begin with a little less experienced than their rivals in the Origin arena, and they trail their rivals in terms of Origin riding percentage (26.36% to 38.94%). So, Richardson will rely on his most experienced cowboys to set the foundation and hope that his role players can sustain that momentum throughout the middle of the draw.
Blues mainstays Sam Woodall and Clint Glass will lead the team once more in 2026.
In the final round of the previous year's series, Woodall was the hero, sealing the Blues' victory in the closing moments of the contest. The Heywood bull rider will be full of confidence after his easy win at the Sydney Meatstock Touring Pro earlier this month, when he went 3-for-3 to beat his competitors. At this level, his riding percentage of 50.00% makes him extremely dependable.
Conversely, Glass will be trying to make up for a disappointing 2025 Origin campaign, in which he finished the series with a record of 1-from-7. He has picked up a cheque from four of his last six starts, so he looks to be working into the season nicely. Nobody has more passion for the New South Wales jersey than the Willow Tree cowboy, so look for him to lead from the front.
One of the two riders who will be making their debut for the Blues is Keny Roger de Oliveira. The Brazilian has been low flying since arriving in Australia, covering 80% of his bulls so far. He picked up the event win at the Lardner Park Touring Pro and has four more runner-up finishes to his name. Richardson will be hoping that the 32-year-old will be able to replicate the incredible feats that Luan Crystian Camara accomplished during the 2025 series.
Lachlan Slade was one of the final riders to qualify for the Blues, and for me, he is the game-changer for the Blues. The veteran Tamworth rider always steps up, regardless of what his riding record is during the regular season. He has won two PBR Origin events and holds the second-highest marked ride in PBR Origin. He was crowned the 2021 Cowboy of Origin after combining with Cattle King Boogers Beach for 90 points in the Bonus Round at Cairns.
The fact that the Blues have never prevailed in a PBR Origin event in Newcastle is unexpected. However, with the support of a large home crowd and the momentum of their 2025 success, this may be the year they leave the Newcastle Entertainment Centre with a series lead. Richardson will need everyone to work together again if they want to win once more in 2026.
View the team announcement for Team Queensland
Jared Borghero returns as coach of Team Queensland, and I know how much the 2025 series loss would have eaten at him over the past 10 months. He will be fired up to regain the PBR Origin trophy, and I am sure his team are all on the same page.
The Maroons team contains three of the last four PBR Australian National Champions on its roster. On the 2026 tour, their team has covered 44.46% of their bulls, while the New South Wales team have only converted at 34.29% of their opportunities. Even though the numbers may be heavily in their favour, all ten riders will need to do their part to win, and Borghero will expect everyone to capitalise on chances to score points.
Let's start with Borghero's anchor — Kurt Shephard. The reigning National Champion continues to quietly go about his business in 2026 and has worked his way back to the top of the standings with a riding percentage of almost 60%. His record in a Maroons jersey is exceptional, with five long-round victories and an almost perfect record of five out of six in the Bonus Rounds.
After spending time in the United States, where he went two for three at the PBR Velocity Finals and covered three of his bulls at the PBR World Finals, Macaulie Leather is back. The Calliope cowboys’ confidence should be sky-high, and those experiences should transfer well into the PBR Origin arena.
The highest ranked of the three Maroons debutants is Ethan Coster. During his rookie campaign, the Miriam Vale young-gun has covered 53.33% of his bulls, winning the Touring Pro event at Toowoomba Meatstock and finishing second at the Monster Energy Beaudesert Invitational. Having so many seasoned men on his side should give him the self-assurance he needs to succeed in the spotlight.
With so much talent on the Queensland team, it's difficult to pick a game-breaker, but I'll stick with Zane Hall. The Athol bull rider hasn't had much luck in the draw at recent tour stops, but we usually see him catch fire during the Origin window. He will be looking to get his riding percentage back up over the 50% mark. His consistency in the final stages of the event will be crucial to a Queensland victory, as he has a 3-for-5 record in PBR Origin Bonus Rounds.
The defining question for the 2026 PBR Origin series will be how the Queensland team will respond to their unexpected loss from the previous season. After that experience, I don't think Borghero will have any trouble inspiring his team. He'll be hoping that his team can limit the missed opportunities and score often to nullify the Blues home field advantage.
I will be back tomorrow with The Morning Line, in which I will analyse some of the most anticipated matchups for Rounds 1 and 2 of the 2026 PBR Origin I – Newcastle.
View the full Event Schedule and Ticket Information for the 2026 PBR Australia season.
For the latest results, news and stats, stay tuned to PBRAustralia.com.au, follow the tour on Facebook (PBR Australia), Instagram (@PBRAustralia) and TikTok (@PBRAustralia), and subscribe to @ProBullRidersAust on YouTube for event replays and highlights.