02 February, 2022
RODEO ACTION HEADS SOUTH
Brock Mulhall is one of three Queensland cowboys heading to South Australia for two rodeos in the next 10 days.
Due to COVID-19, Mulhall has been based at Gracemere in Queensland for the past 16 months rather than in the Wagga Wagga area of New South Wales.
He is a sixth generation of the Gill family and has prepared Gill Brothers bucking stock for rodeos along with his cousin Ryan Gill.
Mulhall will fly to the two South Australian rodeos with Queensland riders Hamish Ilrick and Stuart McGuire-Spalding.
While Mulhall is a bareback bronc riding specialist, he will compete in team roping at Kapunda and the Rodeo By the Sea at Steaky Bay in South Australia with Ilrick and McGuire-Spalding.
Mulhall is usually the heeler in team roping and starts a little behind the header who goes for the first catch,
“The header has to make sure he doesn’t start too fast and break the barrier,” he said.
After competing at Kapunda this Saturday, he will do some horse work with close mate Tom Willoughby in South Australia in the run up to the Streaky Bay Rodeo on November 27.
Willoughby will also compete in the bareback at the South Australian rodeos.
Mulhall qualified in the top 15 in both team roping and the bareback bronc ride at his first national finals at the Gold Coast. He combined with Aaron Bookluck to win the third round of the finals.
He has only missed out on annual finals when equine influenza and more recently COVID-19 put an end to the hopes for the finals in two years.
Mulhall lists his favourite bareback horse at Little Egypt, the horse Wandoan rider Dave Worsfold set a new APRA national record of 91 points on in 2017.
The previous record was set by Darren Clarke at 90 in 1997 and then equalled by Wade Clifford in 2010.
Mullhall has competed in the United States where he won a round of the bareback at the Texas Circuit Finals.
He also won the bareback at a Will Rogers Rodeo in Texas.
Mulhall has a career best score of 87 at Christchurch, New Zealand, where he won the bareback.
He flew to New Zealand to represent Australia in bareback bronc and steer wrestling.
During his three trips to the United States to represent Australia, he has competed in just one event, the bareback bronc ride.
At age 33, Mulhall reckons he has another four to five years in the sport.
Already, his children, barrel racer Lacie, 4, and poddy rider Wylie, 2, have become the seventh generation of the Gill Family to compete in the sport of rodeo,
Mulhall’s most recent form was a first in round 1 of the bareback at Warwick at the end of October, third in the second round and second in the average behind Injune rider Tom Webster,
The Queenslanders heading south this week are likely to return home to Queensland for the first two rodeos on next year’s program, the Hervey Bay Rodeo on January 1 and the Maryborough Rodeo on January 8.
More information from APRA on 07 4661 8481
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