Hey! You got here. That wasn't too
hard, eh?
Here's a bit of information about me. I was born in
Katherine in September 1983 (aaah, good year that, and you can work out the numbers for
yourself!) and I want to be a champion bull rider. I grew up and
lived for the first sixteen years of my life in and around Katherine with my mother and younger
brother. The next few years was spent commuting between Queensland, where I
often ride, and Katherine, which is still my home. I'm
back in the NT again at the moment, but this may change again soon
because of some exciting things that are being planned for
2006. Most of my life has been spent around horses and cattle, and I
can't see this changing because I love this kind of life too much.
I first got seriously involved with bull riding around 1997 when
one of my bull riding uncles suggested I jump on and have a go. I did, the bull riding bug
got me, and I'm still hooked. Can't imagine any other kind of life
now.
 There are several major figures in my bull riding life. These
are my mother who gives unfailing support, my uncle
Daniel Tapp (Yep! that's him in the picture here) who first got me interested in rodeo, and Chris Pollard
who encouraged me to stick with it. Their support, coaching and encouragement have
been invaluable. Just hope I have as much patience with novices one day as Daniel
and Chris have shown with me.
Another huge influence came into my
life in 1999 and I have enlarged on this further down the page. I
have also made lots of friends in the rodeo and bull riding world,
and some of them are in the picture here as well.
And talking of
pictures ... how about this one! If you're wondering where
my interest in bullriding came from, here's a large part of the
answer. This
is my uncle Daniel riding the
 Feature Bull at Mataranka
around 1996. This picture is from
a collection taken by Tony Maxwell, another former Territorian and
he kindly passed on a couple of pictures to me. Thanks a
bunch Tony. I sure appreciated this. The other picture
is a real eye opener and you'll find it on my Photo Gallery page.
Bull riding is the major activity of my life and I started
riding professionally in 1998. I joined the Northern Cowboys Association in April
1998 and was lucky enough to win the 1998 and 1999 NT junior bull
riding championship. I also achieved runner up in the NT open bull
riding championship for 1999. 2000 was great although for various
reasons, a little unfocused, but 2001 was my best year yet.
Major achievements for 2001 were to attain the NCA Open Bull
Riding Championship, and the CBR Ford F Series Finals
Championship and Rookie of the Year titles. 2002 and 2003
were good
years and a lot of fun. 2004 and 2005 were taken up with a lot of
other things besides bullriding so it was harder to stay focused.
2006 will be the year when I get back to my main priority -
bullriding!
That great Aussie Champion, Troy Dunn, has been a huge influence
in my bull riding career. I attended a bull riding
clinic run by Troy in 1999 and it was one of the best investments I have
made. Troy is still a major support figure and mentor to me
and I feel very privileged to have ridden with him, and many other great
Aussie bull riders, at the Bullriding Australia events. Here's a picture of
me with Troy Dunn at Darwin Pro Rodeo in August, 1999.
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