Sport
3 November, 2025
Local cowboy PBR champ
A GOLD buckle and a $100,000 cheque has put the finishing touches on a great year of bullriding for Mareeba’s Kurt Shephard.
The local cowboy claimed the PBR Australia Championship in a thrilling grand final showdown in Townsville at the weekend.
Shephard said he was stoked to finally have a PBR Championship under his belt, with his last accolade being an Australian Title with the APRA (Australian Professional Rodeo Association) in 2014.
“I feel relief to be honest, but it’s a really good feeling too. It’s probably only just starting to sink in,” he said on Monday.
“There was a lot of hard work this year and also a bit of adversity, with a few injuries along way. It took a fair bit of managing this year, but we didn’t give up – we kept turning up and it all worked out.
“I’m pretty honoured to have my name there amongst past champions and it’s pretty cool that it’ll be there forever.”
Shephard rode two of the four bulls he got on at the event and finished the season with an aggregate of 2,263.33 points – 350 points ahead of second-placed Luan Crystian Camara.
“It was a little bittersweet for me, I would have liked to have stayed on more than I did, but that’s just how it worked out I guess,” he said.
“I made a silly little mistake on the first one I got on and then bounced back on the second bull. We got to pick our round bull on the second night. I had a good bull that I knew, but same thing, just a silly mistake where I should have know better.
“But I got lucky to get back into the short round and managed to hang on to a bull called Forever Young that’s kind of hard to get by. I managed to get him ridden and got the job done.”
The finals event drew in the top bull riders in the country, with a few internationals making an appearance as well.
Queenslander and World No.3 Brady Fielder was among the talent in the arena, who made history after tallying up 100 qualified rides in a single season.
Shephard said the energy and the atmosphere was “unreal” – something that he’d never forget.
“That was one of the best events I’ve been to, ever,” he said.
“Especially on the Saturday night with a sold-out crowd and the quality of the bullriding from the boys. We rode six bulls in the short round, you don’t see that very often, it was unreal.”
Shephard said he was grateful for all the support he received from friends and family in his hometown and hopes to inspire the next generation of bull riders.
“I’ve got so much family and friends from the Mareeba area – I was flicking through social media and just the support from everyone from home, I just can’t thank them enough,” he said.
“I hope that any young fellas watching from the Mareeba and Tablelands area can see that it is possible if they put their mind to it.
“With dedication and hard work that they can easily do what I did, even being from a small town like Mareeba.”
