EIGHT seconds is not enough time to achieve many things in life.
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But in the fierce sport of bull riding it’s an eternity.
Three South-west teenagers – Codrington’s Joe Down and Heywood brothers Sam and Jack Woodall – spend countless hours training and travelling around Australia for an eight-second thrill ride.
Staying the course as a bucking bull does its best to throw them to the dirt justifies the hard work and outweighs the dangers associated with the sport.
“I think it’s sort of hard to explain what it feels like but there’s not really a better feeling than when you make a good bull ride and step off and walk away,” Jack said.
“The more you get on, the more you start to see the ride. Other than that it’s pretty much a blur.”
A passion which started when they jumped on poddy calves at the age of eight is now taking the trio to America.
Sam, 19, Jack, 17, and Joe, 16, are three of only four Australians to qualify for the 69th annual high school finals rodeo in Gillette, Wyoming, in July.
There, they will face more than 1750 opponents from 43 US states and five Canadian provinces.
They’re guaranteed two rides at the week-long tournament which will attract 75,000 fans through the gate and be televised nationally on the Saturday night.
“We’ve rodeoed everywhere in Australia so we sort of know what it’s like here and now we get to go and see and compare ourselves to them,” Jack said.
They know they’ve put in the preparation – the trio spend 32 weeks of the year travelling to rodeos across Australia and train every Sunday at the Woodalls’ property in Heywood.
There, Sam and Jack’s father – three-time Australian champion Gavin – helps the trio fine-tune technique and build core strength.
Their grandfather Ron Woodall breeds bulls which are used at competitions.
His grandsons don’t have priority when it comes to riding them though.
Competition rules mean bulls are balloted out – a lucky draw system, if you will.
Joe’s father Geoff also dabbled in bull riding when he was younger.
All three teenagers say family inspired them to become cowboys.
“Dad was Australian champion so I wanted to be like him,” Sam said.
Joe too wanted to replicate his father.
“I saw videos of dad doing it and wanted to have a go at it,” he said.
None remember fear when they first hopped on a bull as children and all have avoided serious injury.
They’re aware of the dangers. Sam says “we’ve all been trampled” with a calmness which relegates what those outside the sport might consider serious to a side note.
“I’ve been knocked out a few times, but that’s it,” Sam said.
“It’s not really fear, it’s a big adrenaline rush and getting nervous. I wouldn’t say you’re scared.”
His younger brother said he carried the same approach.
“You don’t think about that side of things really,” Jack said.
“You always know but I think you’re more worried about having a good time really.”
They both play football – Sam seniors for South West District club Dartmoor and Jack under 18s for Hampden league outfit Portland.
Joe used to play juniors for Port Fairy too.
They believe the two sports are at opposite ends of the spectrum – bull riding requires core strength and football cardio.
But both need mental toughness.
Jack attends year 12 at Portland’s Bayview College with some of his Tiger teammates.
His friends are aware of his bull riding exploits.
“I think they like the idea of it, they think it’s cool – but I don’t think they’d do it themselves,” he said.
The annual high school finals rodeo is in Gillette, a town of 31,000 people in Wyoming.
There is up to $USD200,000 in prizemoney on offer.
For the Australian mates, it’s a major step towards seeing if they can make careers out of bull riding.
Sam, who recently spent time working in Queensland, said Australian rodeos paid “nothing compared to America or Canada but you can make a living out of it”.
The American adventure will also give the teenagers a chance to compete at a higher standard, given the sport’s popularity in the United States.
They hope their experience on home soil will help them adjust.
“Everyone would have a favourite ride of theirs over their career,” Jack said.
“For me, it was probably up in Darwin, I won a junior bull ride up there once.”
Sam’s was a feature win at Mount Gambier and Joe’s a 7.99-second effort at a Dartmoor event.
Throughout it all, they stick together.
“It’s them against bull,” Joe’s father Geoff said.
“It’s not man against man like football. It’s ribbing each other and telling each other to get going.
“They’re all mates.”