Farley set to show stuff

Alan Kennedy | 22nd December 2008

BULL RIDING: He's only 19 years old, but New South Wales cowboy Pete Farley is a champion and ready to show his ability at the Great Western next week.

The year will end with another bull riding extravaganza as Rockhampton hosts the Bundaberg Rum PBR Touring pro event next Tuesday and Wednesday.

After winning the buckle as the 2008 Professional Bull Riders champion, Farley will be out to show spectators in the Beef Capital why he is one of the hottest properties on the national scene.

The success of the teenage sensation should be of little surprise for, as they say, it is all in the genes.

“My dad (Paul) was a five times Australian rodeo champion,” he said.

“I think I was five when I did my first rodeo, it's so long I can't remember,”

While his dad and two brothers were always involved in rodeo, Farley reckons it was his own decision to get involved in the sport.

“I was never pushed into it,” he said putting the record straight.

While dad collected the buckle for his own five national titles, it would be fair to say he actually collected a sixth for when young Pete won his title in Melbourne he was on his way to hospital when the presentations were being made leaving Paul to collect the silverware.

Farley's second - and winning - ride was on a fierce beast named How U Doin and while he recorded a massive 91 points for his uncomfortable eight-second stint, he also took a knock to the head from the rearing bovine which left him concussed in the dust.

“It wasn't the greatest finish,” Farley joked.

Nevertheless he'd done his job successfully.

Now he looks to Rockhampton and the chance to erase memories of his previous visit to the Great Western.

“It was the first PBR event I did,” he said.

“I didn't do any good.”

Although Farley is new to the scene, he has still had a stint riding on the toughest circuit on the planet, the United States.

“I spent most of this year in the States,” he said.

“I learned a lot there, I learned how to win.”

Following the event in Rockhampton, Farley is off again to the States on January 7.

“I'll be travelling all around on the PBR circuit,” he said.

While the attraction of riding in the States is to compete against the best cowboys and for top prizemoney, Farley said when it comes to the bucking bulls there is little difference between the States and Australia.

“The best ones here are as good (as the States) they just have more good ones over there,” he said.

How U Doin is certainly one bull he places in that category, and that is how he collected such a huge score.

Farley will need to ride one of the better bulls if he is to take the prizemoney in Rockhampton as both Kevin “Jock” Connolly and Ben Seeds will be looking to exact revenge.

The race for the PBR buckle looked to be between those two cowboys until Farley made his return and shattered them with his rides at the finals.

The Bundaberg Rum PBR Touring Pro event at the Great Western is on the nights of December 30 and 31.

My dad was a five times Australian rodeo champion. I think I was five when I did my first rodeo, it's so long I can't remember