The PBR Australia Monster Energy Tour returns to the Greater Sydney area's northwestern fringe this weekend for the 2026 Hawkesbury Invitational at the Showgrounds in Clarendon on 4-5 September. 

After three straight weekends of competition, the cowboys return to New South Wales in good form, fresh off posting their third-highest riding percentage of the season last Saturday night at the 2026 Caboolture Invitational.

The third edition of the Hawkesbury event will get underway on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. AEST with Round 1 of the Monster Energy Tour main event and the Challenger Series competition.

Saturday's action begins with all four divisions of the Can-Am Junior Academy at 4:00 p.m., with the concluding rounds of the Monster Energy Tour taking to the dirt at 7:00 p.m.

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 the 2026 PBR Australia Grand Finals on your VR headset, mobile device, tablet, or cast to your TV. Visit watchvr.pbraustralia.com.au to secure your season pass.

Previously, in PBR Australia

Keny Roger de Oliveria and Ky Borghero shared victory at the 2026 Caboolture Invitational, each producing two successful rides to finish tied on 167.10 points. 

Clint Glass claimed third place after winning the Championship Round, with Luke Parkinson and Alison Aguiar rounding out the top five. 

Stetson Nirvana earned his fifth YETI Bucking Bull of the Night award of the season for the Dittmann Bucking Bulls team, further consolidating his position atop the Bucking Bull of the Year Standings.

Oliveira and Borghero Split the Spoils in Caboolture

Hawkesbury Invitational Event History

In 2025, Clint Glass secured a narrow victory, finishing with an aggregate score of 165 points, with his two qualified rides coming in the long rounds. It was the Willow Tree veteran's second win of the season, and he jumped into the No. 3 spot on the National Standings Leaderboard. 

Three other riders also finished 2-for-3 across the two very tight nights of competition. Dan Ruhland finished on 164 points after posting the only score in the Championship Round, with Caiden Sandilands and Kurt Shephard just behind on 163.50 points.

Heywood's Sam Woodall claimed the win in 2024, with his 86-point ride in Round 1 enough to secure victory on a tough weekend for the thirty-one-cowboy field. Lane Mellers was runner-up on 84.50 points, with Braydon Wellby, Klay Ward and Macaulie Leather tied for third on 83.50 points.

View the latest PBR Australia Event Results.

This weekend's Format, Prizemoney and Points

Another $20,000 in prizemoney will be up for grabs this weekend at the 2026 Hawkesbury Invitational, with twenty-four of the best bull riders in the country battling it out for a share.

All cowboys will draw a bull to face in Rounds 1 and 2 of the competition, with the top 12 returning for the Monster Energy Championship Round, which will be set via a live draft inside the arena.

The Round 1 winner will also receive an additional $5,000 bonus at the conclusion of Friday night’s performance.

A maximum of 320 points will be available to any individual rider for the 2026 PBR Australian National Standings. Each round winner will receive 40 points, and the event champion will receive 200 points.

View the updated 2026 PBR Australian National Standings.

Talking Points

Gold Buckle Race Tightens

The battle for the 2026 PBR Australia National Championship is increasingly shaping up to be a three-way fight, with Kurt Shephard, Keny Roger de Oliveira and Zane Hall creating a significant gap on the chasing pack. Over the past four tour stops, Shephard and Oliveira have covered 50% of their bulls, while Hall has converted at 70%.

With No. 4-ranked Ethan Coster and No. 5-ranked Sam Woodall now more than 1,000 points adrift of Shephard, the title race appears firmly in the hands of the top three as the season heads into its final run of events.

Injuries Starting to Mount Up

A growing number of riders are managing injuries sustained over the last three weekends of competition as the season enters its final months. 

With just seven events remaining before Townsville, the battle for championship points will be as much about grit and resilience as about talent, as cowboys fight to overcome adversity and keep their Gold Buckle and Grand Finals qualification hopes alive.

View the full 2026 Monster Energy Caboolture Invitational Daysheet.

Round 1 Matchups to Watch

Ben Bode on 214 Asmodeus (Swain Cattle Company)

The Calliope cowboy has a good chance of getting the cowboys off to a good start in his matchup against Asmodeus. This bull has been ridden four times in his ten-out career, and three of those rides were by left-handed riders, at a 50% success rate. In his latest two trips, Asmodeus has combined with lefties Keny Roger de Oliveira for 83.85 points and Zane Hall for 84.80 points. Bode will be looking to bounce back quickly after a fast buck-off at Caboolture, and a score in the 84-point range should set him up for a good result in the aggregate. The bull should turn back into his hand. 

Zane Hall on 179 Gone Rogue (MC Bucking Bulls and Dittmann Bucking Bulls)

Hall has covered seven of his last ten bulls across four events, rising to No. 3 in the National Standings and now sits within striking distance of the top spot. In the opening round, he faces a bull making its PBR debut, so how this matchup plays out is up in the air. Gone Rogue will buck from the left delivery, which suggests he might favour a turn back to the right. That puts him away from the Athol talent’s hand, but Hall has ridden three of his last four bulls that have turned back away from his hand and his overall riding percentage over the last two months has risen to 47%. Look for that to keep climbing as we move deeper into the business end of the season.

Kurt Shephard on 882 Uppercut (Maynes Bucking Bulls)

While reviewing the stats on this bull, I was surprised to find that left-handed riders are 0-for-10, while right-handers own all three recorded scores, given Uppercut’s preference to spin back to the left. I think that could change here. Shephard got his night started right at Caboolture but couldn’t make the whistle aboard The Warden in the short-go. In the last 60 days, the Marreba bull rider has ridden 62% of his bulls, but he is 2-for-5 in his last three tour stops. While he is still converting at a solid rate, he needs to ensure he doesn’t stay down for long. A qualified ride here will go a long way towards maintaining that buffer zone between himself and Oliveira and Hall.

Keny Roger de Oliveira on B02 Da Bear (Lazy G Bucking Bulls/Pukallus)

Compared with Shephard and Hall, Oliveira has a 53% conversion rate over the last 60 days. He has ridden four of his last five bulls, with his only buck-off coming at 7.71 seconds, so he looks to be back at the top of his game. Much of his recent success has come aboard bulls that have turned back into his hand, but Da Bear will likely turn back to the right here. The conversion rate for left-handed riders was quite low until Kurt Shephard and Toby Collins posted 83.50 and 85-point scores earlier this season. With Shephard having ridden this bull and Zane Hall owning the other two left-handed scores, this will be a bull the Brazilian veteran will be wanting to tick off.

Rylee Ward on N265 MSG Locating Filthy Rich (Lazy G Bucking Bulls)

Ward is another rider boasting a 60-day riding percentage around the 50% mark, and after a disappointing Saturday night in Caboolture, he will be looking to bounce back here. This will be the third time these two have met in PBR competition, with the bull winning both matchups during the 2025 season, at 4.83 seconds in Hawkesbury and 7.97 seconds at the Grand Finals in Townsville. Filthy Rich turns back to the right more often than not, and that will put him into Ward’s wheelhouse once again. With the Kiwi bull rider converting at such a high riding percentage aboard bulls that turn back into his hand, he’s very hard to bet against here. Expect the score to put him in contention for the round win and the $5,000 bonus.