IT was a storybook ending to a spectacular career for local legend Jock Connolly who made the most of a wild card entry to deliver one of the most memorable event finishes in Australian bull riding history in front of a packed house at the Townsville Entertainment Centre for the 15th annual Troy Dunn Invitational.
Connolly announced his retirement just prior to the event after earlier in the week predicting he would win his most desired event title for his swansong.
Out of action for the last 12 months due to a shoulder injury Connolly had only been on a hand full of bulls leading up to the event, yet he made it known from his first ride he on a mission to win after getting an 84.5 point score in the first round aboard Diamond J’s, Top Hat, then 85 points on Coban’s, Little Big Horn, placing him in first position going into the Championship Round.
For all the action from the night click on the photo below:
After some amazing rides the top eight riders left consisted of Connolly, Harve Stewart, Luke Snyder, Dave Mason, Dave Kennedy, Jason Mara, Lachlan Richardson and Ty Pozzobon.
One by one each rider would taste the Townsville dirt coming down to the last rider of the night. Being the only local competitor in the competition, Connolly had the crowd on their feet in anticipation for his ride.
Connolly who by this time had already won the competition was simply riding for pride and glory and in true Connolly fashion he ended his last ride of his career on a high delivering an 83.5 score aboard the Brian Duggan Bull, Chuck Norris, giving him a three bull total of 253 points and an emotional ending to his career.
After the eight second whistle blew, emotions ran high as friends and family entered the arena to congratulate him on his success and join in on the celebrations.
“We’ve been doing this event for 15 years now and this is by far one of the most exciting finishes to any I have seen,” PBR General Manager Glen Young said.
“Jock and Troy Dunn are great mates so it was one of those dream endings a rider can achieve,” he said.
From here the tour heads south to Tamworth where Luke Snyder and Brendon Clark will also compete for the last times in their career as Australia prepares to farewell the two greats of the sport.
Results:
Round 1:
1st – Jason Mara – 87 points
2nd – Jock Connolly – 84.5 points
3rd – Ryan Dickens – 82.5 points
Round 2:
1st – Jock Connolly – 85 points
2/3 – Harve Stewart & Ty Pozzobon – 84 points
4/5 – Lachlan Richardson & Luke Snyder – 83 points
Championship Round:
1st – Jock Connolly – 83.5 points
Average:
1st – Jock Connolly – 253 points
2nd – Harve Stewart – 165.5 points
3rd – Ty Pozzobon – 164.5 points
