THIS is likely the last Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo that Jared Borghero will compete in.
The 2016 Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo bull riding champion broke his leg riding in Mount Morgan in May and has just recovered. This weekend will be his second ride since his return. The 27-year-old had an operation less than two weeks ago to remove the screws in his leg, and then competed at the Cloncurry Merry Muster.
“I have not had the ideal preparation but hopefully I knocked the cobwebs on the weekend, and will have better luck,” Borghero said.
“I guess it is the same as if anyone runs out on the football field. It is our sport, it is what we do. The thrill of the unknown is pretty good.
“It’s bred into us, we don’t know anything different really.
“Unfortunately it is not a team sport, and we cannot whisper in the bull’s ear and ask what he is going to do. They have got a mind of their own and we have just got to do our best.
“Today’s bulls are getting better and we’ve got to lift our game. The bulls are just as much athletes as we are, and the unsung heroes of the sport really.”
By day Borghero is a coal miner in Blackwater but also alternates in the rodeo circuit as a bull rider, and as a rodeo athlete. His family grew up on a small property in Beaudesert and at 15 he began the sport. Two brothers and his father also compete at rodeos. “I started a bit later because I was playing football as a kid," Borghero said.
He is well familiar with the feeling of broken bones. The injuries include a broken jaw, broken ribs, and the broken leg. Borghero has focused more on bull riding in the past year even with the setback of an injury.
“I am getting a bit old,” Borghero said. “I cannot bull ride forever, so I had one last dig at it. Who knows, in the next year or two it could be the end of it, and I will continue bull fighting.” A rodeo athlete was guaranteed money while a bull rider’s fall from a ride could mean an expensive weekend.
Borghero was then asked if this would be the last time he competed at the Mount Isa rodeo. He said, “definitely as a bull rider, yep. It’s not locked in but it possibly could be.”
He described his win at the Mount Isa rodeo last year as a career highlight and was hoping to claim a second year in a row.
“It’s the biggest event of the year, I suppose, for every bull rider. Their dream in Australia is to win Mount Isa and yeah, it is the daddy of them all in Australia. Everyone wants that on their resume so I was lucky enough to get it last year.
“If I can do it twice, it would be unreal – an honour.”