PBR Australia's Monster Energy Tour returns to the Shoalhaven region of the New South Wales South Coast this Saturday, 9 May, for the 2026 Nowra Invitational.
This event serves as the final opportunity for riders to qualify for the New South Wales and Queensland teams for PBR Origin I in Newcastle on 30 May, and Origin II in Brisbane on 6 June. So, the cowboys will not only be competing for points and prize money — there are also representative jerseys on the line.
The future stars of the PBR will get the event underway at the Nowra Showgrounds from 4:00 p.m. AEST, with all four divisions of the Cam-Am Junior Academy being contested. The Monster Energy Tour main event will take to the dirt at 7:00 p.m. AEST and will include the Challenger Series competition.
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 from your VR headset, mobile, tablet device, or cast to your TV monitor. Visit watchvr.pbraustralia.com.au to secure your season pass.
Previously, in PBR Australia
There has been no shortage of PBR Australia action since Donnie Rutherfurd won the 2026 Beaudesert Invitational at the end of February. Five Touring Pro Division events have been held, with three riders scoring their maiden PBR event wins.
The first of those cowboys to breakthrough was Ky Borghero. He was victorious at the Back to St Greg's Touring Pro in Western Sydney, producing a perfect 2-for-2 performance. Consistency was key for the Proserpine young gun, who finished runner-up in both rounds of competition to hold off a late charge from Brazilian Keny Roger de Oliveria.
At the Lardner Park Farm World Touring Pro, Keny Roger de Oliveria was able to go one better to score his first win on Australian soil. The São Paulo cowboy was the only rider to finish the night with two scores. Heywood bull rider Sam Woodall was the best of the rest with one qualified ride. Bucking Bull of the Year contender Man Glitter (Morgy’s Cattle Company) stole the show with a season high 45-point bull score in the Championship Round.
Toowoomba Meatstock was next on the schedule as we entered April, and it was Miriam Vale’s Ethan Coster who won his first piece of PBR silverware with a 2-from-3 effort to enter the top 5 in the National Standings. The 19-year-old finished the best, winning both rounds on Saturday afternoon, with Keny Roger de Oliveria again filling the runner-up position. 2025 Bucking Bull of the Year Alpha Blokes Warden (MJ/Keliher Bucking Bulls) was outstanding in his season debut, delivering trips marked 43.70, 43.80 and 43.60 points across the three rounds.
Reigning Australian Champion Kurt Shephard secured his second victory of the season at Lardner Park Meatstock, propelling him to the top of the 2026 rankings. The Mareeba talent was the only man to finish the weekend 3-from-3 with a total score of 251.80 points. Keny Roger de Oliveria was the best of the riders with two scores to record another second-place finish.
The final leg of the Meatstock run was held at the Sydney Showgrounds this past weekend. Sam Woodall emerged with the twelfth PBR event win of his career, jumping from thirteenth to sixth position in the National Standings in the process. He posted round winning rides worth 86.00, 86.40 and 85.90 points for a total of 258.30 to score a dominant win. Yet again, Keny Roger de Oliveria recorded his fourth runner-up finish to solidify his place at No. 2 in the standings.
View the latest results from PBR Australia competition here.
Talking Points
The major talking point on tour over the past month has been all about the makeup of the teams for the upcoming 2026 PBR Origin Series. After breaking through to win their first series in 2025, Team New South Wales will be keen to retain, but we know that Team Queensland will be hungry to get their hands back on the trophy that they held from 2019 until 2024.
Riders such as Queensland stalwarts Rylee Ward and Boston Leather are currently ranked outside the qualification spots for their state, as is the case for New South Wales rising stars Charlie Bailey and Tyson Smith. We should be keeping a close eye on these riders this weekend as they look to climb the rankings.
As I mentioned earlier, Kurt Shephard has worked his way to the top of the 2026 PBR Australian National Standings. With two wins and four top 4 finishes to his name, the 31-year-old looks to be on a similar track to last year, with his riding percentage sitting just below the 60% mark. He sits at a very similar percentage in Origin competition, so we know he won’t be slowing down.
The other topic over the past month has been the emergence of Keny Roger de Oliveria. The Brazilian veteran bull rider has ridden 11 of his 13 bulls since arriving in Australia and trails Shephard by just over a round win in the standings. We will see the bull power increase through the middle part of this season, so it will be interesting to see if he can keep converting his chances into qualified rides.
Speaking of Brazilians, I am eagerly awaiting to see 2025 Rookie of the Year Luan Crystian Camara make his season debut this weekend. I know the 33-year-old will be keen to go one better this year after he finished second to Kurt Shephard in the 2025 gold buckle race. He has given his rivals a hefty head start, but we know he can get hot and pile up the points quickly, so it's not out of the question.
View the full Event Schedule for the 2026 PBR Australia season.
Recent Nowra Invitational History
Dungog cowboy Thomas Hudson reigned supreme at the 2025 Monster Energy Nowra Invitational, securing his maiden victory with an 85-point qualified ride on what was a tough night for the riders.
Back in the 2017 edition, Fraser Babbington went 4-from-4 on dual entries to finish first and third in the event, sealing the win with a 90-point ride on Call Me Joe in the Championship Round.
Read about Hudson’s breakthrough win in 2025 here.
Event Format, Prize Money and Championship Points
Twenty-nine riders will go head-to-head over two rounds of competition, and there is $20,000 in prize money up for grabs. All cowboys will face a bull in Round 1 with the top 10 returning for the Monster Energy Championship Round. The rider with the highest aggregate score at the conclusion will be crowned the event champion.
A maximum of 280 points will be available to any individual rider towards the 2026 PBR Australian National Standings. Each round winner will receive 40 points, and the event champion will receive 200 points.
View the 2026 PBR Australian National Standings.
Matchups to Watch – Round 1
Toby Collins on 065 Maltmans Juggernaut (Diamond S Bucking Bulls)
The Maldon cowboy has a pretty good record on tour from his limited starts across his career. After missing out at the Marrabel Touring Pro, he has come away with top 7 finishes from the St Greg's Touring Pro and the Sydney Meatstock Touring Pro, going a combined 3-from-5. He gets a good chance to maintain that momentum here against Maltmans Juggernaut. This bull has been ridden in both of his trips on tour for 82.50 and 78.20 points, and both of those scores went to left-handed riders. This bull can turn back to the right, but he can reverse direction late, and that could benefit Collins as the clock approaches eight.
Ky Borghero on N4H All The Rage (Diamond S Bucking Bulls)
Borghero is starting to find his feet on tour and his confidence appears to be growing. He picked up his maiden PBR event win at the St Greg's Touring Pro in March, and then produced some nice rides at the Lardner Park Meatstock for a third-place finish. All The Rage has been around for a couple of seasons now, and he gets ridden around 35% of the time. In fact, across his four trips at the Larder Park and Sydney Meatstock events, he was ridden three times for an average mark of 82.60 points. He does prefer to spin to the left, and that will put him into the Proserpine young-gun's riding hand.
Keny Roger de Oliveira on 120 Silver Bullet (CF7 Bucking Bulls)
84.62%. That is Oliveira's current riding percentage for the 2026 PBR Australia season – and he gets a good chance to improve on that success rate here against Silver Bullet. This bull has been covered twice from three outs on tour. The first of those scores went the way of Donnie Rutherfurd for 85.70 points and the Round 1 win at Beaudesert, and the second went to Leith Malone for 84-points at St Greg's, so the lefties look to really get along with him. He does tend to mix up his trips, but I think he initially prefers to turn back to the left before reversing to the right. That pattern should suit the left-handed Brazilian nicely.
Colby Edgar on 165 White Shadow (Lazy G Bucking Bulls/Pukallus)
White Shadow holds a solid 11-and-1 record over the cowboys in his two-year PBR career, but I think we could start to see a few more qualified rides recorded in the upcoming months. This bull prefers an anticlockwise spin, but we have only seen two left-handed riders attempt to ride him in the past 18 months. Ky Borghero made the whistle for 81-points at Tamworth last year, but I think Edgar could be another point or two here. The Tamworth rookie's confidence will be on the rise after he produced back-to-back 12th place finishes at the Lardner Park and Sydney Meatstock events.
Kurt Shephard on OY63 Bad Boy Brown (Lazy G Bucking Bulls)
The Mareeba Champion is starting to get through his work nicely. He rode five straight bulls across the Meatstock events at Lardner Park and Sydney before coming unstuck early in the Sydney Championship Round to end the streak. I know he will want to bounce back as quickly as possible, and he gets a great chance to do that here. Bad Boy Brown has faced thirteen left-handers in his fifteen-out career, and six of those have made the whistle. Scores in the low-to-mid 80-point range have been typical, and we should see this bull turn back to the left and into Shephard's riding hand.
Thomas Triplett on 161 Gunsmoke (Lazy G Bucking Bulls/Edgar)
Triplett has struggled to find any consistency on tour so far this season, but I know he has been putting in the work behind the scenes, and it won't be long until he gets rewarded. He looked good riding at the Sydney Meatstock event last weekend, scoring 83.5 points in the opening round. He was then bucked off at 6-seconds in the second round to end his weekend, but the signs are there. The Bungundarra bull rider would have got a good look at Gunsmoke in Sydney. This bull was ridden twice, first by Dylan Weir for the Round 1 win and 86-points, and then by Zane Hall for 85.30 points for second money in Round 2. This bull does prefer to spin to the left, which will be away from Triplett's right riding hand, but if he can make it stick, he will be in line for a fantastic pick in the Monster Energy Championship Round Draft.
View the full 2026 Nowra Invitational Daysheet.
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.
