Matt Nicholls speaks with Weipa Rodeo announcer Locky Bensted prior to his bullride.
I’M officially a bullrider.
And yep, while I didn’t get close to hanging on for eight seconds, I can now say I’ve jumped on a bull at the Weipa Rodeo!
So how did it come about?
In my bid to raise funds for brain cancer by walking from the Archer River Roadhouse to Weipa, it was suggested by Rose Robins on Saturday that people might pay money to see me get bucked by a 700-kilogram bull.
Within just a couple of hours, and after signing a waiver in case I got injured – or died – it had been locked in.
But I wasn’t getting on unless some serious funds were raised.
And, seeing that Talk About It Tuesday was the official charity partner of the Weipa Rodeo this year, my only condition was that half of the funds raised went to the local suicide-prevention group.
Generously, the Weipa Rodeo Association said it would match any money raised dollar-for-dollar.
So it was put into announcer Locky Bensted’s hands of finding some generous spectators to put in a bid to get me on a bull.
Weipa Rodeo president Russell Scikluna, bidder Geoff Jackson, ‘cowboy’ Matt Nicholls, bidders Cameron Bodey and David Shaw, and the protection athletes.
Bizarrely, Brooke Quartermaine from Weipa Camping Ground got into an early bidding war with Bevan Dukes from Heartland Helicopters.
For those who don’t know, they are a couple and operate their businesses out of the same property.
So that was nice of them!
Darren Corke and Hardus van Wyk from the Weipa Mine and Town Tours got their hands up in the air, only to be usurped by Lauren Dibben from Ecotone.
But the winning bid came from three blokes I’d never seen before.
Geoff Jackson, Cameron Bodey and David Shaw said they’d chip in $3000 to see me get bucked.
With the Weipa Rodeo doubling it, both Talk About It Tuesday and my charity walk would receive $3000 apiece if I jumped on board.
For me, it was a no-brainer.
In fact, I wasn’t really scared until the chutes opened.
You see, I’ve been going to the Weipa Rodeo for 10 years and I know these guys run a tight ship.
It’s one of the safest events on the circuit, so I knew I would be in good hands.
Thankfully, they put me on an old bull in 50 Cent. The one-time star doesn’t buck like he used to and wasn’t going to try and kill me.
So I was fairly calm and happy to do it – until the gate crashed back and I realised that I’m just too old to be doing something so silly.
Thankfully, I came away largely unscathed. The wind came out of my lungs after landing on my back, while I have a swollen foot after 50 Cent landed on my left boot.
Raising $6000 for charity in a couple of seconds sure eased any pain. But there’ll be no encore!
Talk About It Tuesday legends Jackie Perry and Debbie Jackson.
