PBR Australia Monster Energy Tour action returns to Melbourne tonight with a great mix of bucking bulls from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria set to defend the dirt against the cowboys under the bright lights inside John Cain Arena.
Most of the bulls featured in tonight's opening round have previously been ridden for scores in the mid-80s, and I am expecting a tight contest early on. The degree of difficulty will increase for Round 2 with some of the rankest bucking bulls in the country set to strut their stuff.
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Let's break down some of the better opportunities for the cowboys to post a score:
View the full 2026 Monster Energy Melbourne Invitational Daysheet
Toby Collins on -120 Honey Hole (Lazy G Bucking Bulls)
The 2026 Cowboy of Origin will kick off the round in an intriguing matchup against Honey Hole. This bull has been ridden three times, with left-handers accounting for two of those scores. Kurt Shephard scored 82.50 points at Scone, and Alison Aguiar scored 82.60 points at the St Gregs Touring Pro. This bull will likely turn back to the right, but his tempo is good, and he gives all riders a chance to ride time. Collins has been riding well away from his hand of late, with two of his four Origin Series scores coming aboard bulls that prefer a clockwise spin. The Maldon talent will be hoping to light up his sold-out home-state crowd early.
Rylee Ward on 161 Gunsmoke (Lazy G Bucking Bulls/Edgar)
Ward has been low-flying since returning to the tour at the start of July. He has ridden six of his nine bulls, with four of those scores good enough to win the round. He gets a great opportunity to continue climbing the National Standings here aboard Gunsmoke. This bull hasn’t produced his best trips in his last couple of outs, giving up two re-rides after making contact with the bucking chutes. I expect him to continue turning back to the left despite those two hiccups. His action seems quite rider-friendly when he gets out cleanly, and we have seen right-handed riders do well aboard him in the past. Any score a tick over the 85-point mark will be a good score for the Kiwi young gun in this round.
Brumby Brandenburg on 4 Crooked Intentions (Morgys Cattle Company)
Crooked Intentions is a favourite among the cowboys on tour. He has allowed twenty qualified rides from thirty-two trips, averaging 82.48 points. Nine of those scores have come in the last 12 months of competition, from just eleven outs. Brandenburg owns one of those scores, but he also owns the two buck-offs. The bull won in 7.90 seconds at last season’s Nowra Invitational and in 4.79 seconds at the Lardner Park Meatstock earlier this year. Their score came at Tamworth last season, where they combined for 81 points. Can the left-handed Bloomsbury cowboy even the ledger with another score, or will the bull extend his lead? The bull’s regular trip is to fake to the left before turning right, but he can also spin to the left.
Kurt Shephard on 218 Mr Colourful (CF7 Bucking Bulls)
The only rider going better than Rylee Ward on tour at the moment is this guy. The reigning National Champion has the accelerator down, covering seven of his last nine bulls across his past four event starts. Several of those conversions have come aboard bulls that have turned back away from his left riding hand, and he will likely need to utilise those skills here aboard Mr Colourful. This bull began his career with 6 straight buck-offs, but the cowboys have made the whistle in two of the last three outs. Both of those scores went the way of right-handed riders. This bull likes to take a jump or two out into the arena and then turn back to the right. Overall, lefties are a combined 0-for-5, but my money is on the Mareeba bull rider to post a score that will have him in contention for a round win.
Kenny Roger de Oliveira on 41 Vengeance (Australian Western Sports)
I haven't seen much of this bull, but from what I have seen, he appears to suit stronger left-handed riders. Kurt Shephard won Round 1 of this season’s Farm World Touring Pro with 88 points, and Ben Bode scored 83.80 points in the opening round of Meatstock at the same venue a few weeks later. It feels as though Oliveira has hit a bit of a flat spot on tour since riding Alpha Blokes Warden at Origin II. We have seen his riding percentage come back to the field a little, although he is still converting at a rate well above the season average. This looks to be a nice opportunity for the Sao Paulo talent to begin to surge again and ensure he remains in contact with Shephard at the top of the rankings. The bull should turn back to the left and into Oliveira’s hand, but he does have a few tricks in his arsenal that may make the task a little more difficult than expected.
Alison Aguiar on 722 Alcatraz (CF7 Bucking Bulls/Josh Pugh)
I am looking forward to this matchup. Aguiar didn’t have a good Origin Series for the Blues, but he rode well at the events between Games 2 and 3, covering four of his seven bulls. I think we will see him make a strong run up the National Standings leaderboard over the next couple of weekends. Alcatraz’s overall record is 38-and-9, but four of those scores have come in his last eight trips, and three of those have gone the way of left-handed riders. He will start spinning to the left and into the Brazilian bull rider’s hand, then reverse to the right mid-ride. I think they can combine for a score around the 86-point mark.
Caiden Sandilands on 99 Chewcudda (Eade Bucking Bulls)
These two have met before in the PBR Australia competition, way back at the 2023 Grand Finals, where the bull won their Round 4 matchup in 6.71 seconds. The Rockhampton veteran is 3-from-5 since returning to the tour last month at Cairns after taking some time off, and he looks in great form. The last time we saw Chewcudda on tour was in April at the Meatstock Touring Pro at Lardner Park, where he was ridden twice, by two left-handed riders, for scores of 85.20 and 84.00 points. This bull has maintained a relatively consistent pattern over the years. He likes to take a jump or two to clear the chutes with a fake to the right, then turn back to the left. I think Sandilands will know exactly what he is up against here and should be able to convert.
Ben Bode on 109 El Tora (Keliher Bucking Bulls)
Bode has struggled to get scores on the board over the last couple of months, but his buck-offs always come well into the ride, and it won’t be long before that effort translates into qualified rides. The record of left-handed bull riders against El Tora isn’t anything to write home about, but in his last three trips, he has allowed one score and two buck-offs that were well into the second half of the ride. The score went to Keny Roger de Oliveira at Cairns for 82.90 points. He will likely turn away from the Calliope cowboy’s riding hand, but his action is quite flat, and I don’t think he has too many tricks. After posting a late score at Origin III, this looks like a great chance for Bode to keep the ball rolling.
Sam Woodall on N265 MSG Locating Filthy Rich (Lazy G Bucking Bulls)
Woodall makes his long-awaited return to competition after two months on the sidelines with a broken leg. Before his forced layoff, the Haywood bull rider was in outstanding form, riding seven of his last eleven bulls, with four scores enough to claim round honours. Filthy Rich isn’t a bad draw for right-handed riders, who have a 25% success rate despite the bull’s career 35-8 record. He has yet to face a top-ranked rightie this season, so I am looking forward to seeing what Woodall can do in this matchup, as the bull is expected to turn back to the right and into his riding hand. This is a rematch from 2024, when the bull took the win in 4.76 seconds at Hawkesbury.
Zane Hall on 8519 Man Glitter (Morgys Cattle Company)
Another rematch, and these two have plenty of history. Man Glitter got the win in their first two matchups, with the buck-offs coming at 4.66 seconds at Tamworth in 2024 and 3.09 seconds at Hawkesbury last season. Hall got his revenge just a couple of weeks ago at PBR Origin III in Sydney, where he was marked 87.10 points on his way to the event win. This bull appears to be a much better fit for a right-handed rider, but the lefties have held their own on limited opportunities. The Athol talent hasn’t had his best winter, but back-to-back successes aboard this bull will likely erase much of that from his memory bank. The bull will be to the right and away from his hand once again.
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