No bull! Mareeba cowboy Kurt Shephard is Australian champ
PBR Australian Champion
Mareeba’s Kurt Shephard has been crowned 2025 PBR Australian Champion, claiming the gold buckle and pocketing $100,000 in the spectacular Grand Finals at the weekend in Townsville.
Shephard finished the season with an aggregate of 2,263.33 points and delivered two qualified rides across the two night finals event, enough to seal the deal and cement his dominance at the top of the Australian National Standings.
“It’s pretty crazy… it all worked out in the end I guess,’’ Shephard said after the win.
“A lot of hard work went in each week and for it to pay off is pretty good.’’
Brazil’s Luan Crystian Camara wrapped up an incredible debut season as both 2025 National Runner-Up and Rookie of the Year, finishing with 1,910.50 points.
Meanwhile, American cowboy Daniel Keeping lit up the arena, taking out the Average Champion (Event Winner) title on his second trip to Australia. Keeping went a flawless 4-for-4, amassing an aggregate score of 343.25 points to edge out Queensland’s Macaulie Leather, who also rode 100 per cent of his bulls but fell just 5 points short.
In a high-octane Championship Round, 12 riders faced off with six making the 8, including Queenslander Ben Bode and world number 3, fellow Queenslander Brady Fielder, who each notched the highest-scoring rides of the night at 88 points.
Adding to the drama, Fielder achieved a world-first milestone: becoming the only rider globally to reach 100 qualified rides in a single season.
On the bull side, the unstoppable Alpha Blokes Warden, from MJ and Keliher Bucking Bulls, was crowned 2025 Bucking Bull of the Year with a 44.00-point bull score and a $15,000 prize cheque. Still unridden, The Warden once again proved why he’s the bull to beat, tossing USA invitee Andrew Alvidrez at 7.23 seconds in the Championship Round.
PBR Australia Managing Director Glen Young said 2025 would go down as a season to remember.
“The race between North Queensland cowboy, Kurt Shephard, a rider who’s career I have had the privilege to follow from when he first joined the PBR, and Luan Camara, a Brazilian cowboy recommended by the great Adriano Moraes to give an opportunity to come and tour in Australia, has been nothing short of epic,’’ he said.
“As anticipated, before the first event of the season, Kurt was a hot favourite for this year’s title race, but the Brazilian Luan has kept the pressure on from the start, right through. They are both great cowboys, but more importantly they ride with a purpose, which is key in this sport to achieving goals.”
“It’s been a great year for Kurt, becoming a father and winning his first PBR Australian gold buckle, caps off a stellar year.”
“Camara, the quiet achiever has stayed focused from the moment he landed in Australia. It’s not an easy task to leave your homeland and venture to the unknown, but with the help of retired cowboy Darryl Doyle and his wife Shirley, they have provided an environment that has allowed Luan to focus and pursue his dreams to become a national champion in a foreign land, as do our cowboys who venture to USA and Canada.”
“Either cowboys would represent the gold buckle with pride and honour so there is no real loser, they have fought hard all year and it came down to the wire. Even with Kurt winning, Luan still collects the Rookie of the Year and Runner up Award, that will give him an additional $30k in bonuses for his extraordinary efforts.”
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