Number one bull ready to kickstart rodeo

Meet Akubra Suicidal, arguably the number one bucking bull in Australia and definitely the highest bucking bull. The bull, after coming into his own over the past year, has done nothing but collect buckles for his proud owners John Gill and Sons from the Rock in NSW. Akubra Suicidal is now winning buckles in PBR events and was voted by the nations top bull riders in January this year at the national finals as the greatest bucking bull of the finals. The number one ranked bull in the country against his peers in hot competition challenging the greatest rodeo riders in Australia.

Troy Cross, a champion bull rider in his own right, has drawn the mighty feature bull on Saturday night in a take no prisoners Lotto challenge for $1,000 dollars. The odds are stacked against bull riders with this calibre of bull, and means for the first time ever a change in the way the feature bull challenge is run.

If Troy bucks off, for every full second he is atop the bull he will win $100. If he's there for eight seconds he wins $800 plus a bonus $200 and the Boorowa Council-sponsored champion bull rider buckle 2014. If he is unsuccessful the buckle will be presented to the winner of the bull ride. The feature bull ride is sponsored by Top Cafe, Bliss Hair & Beauty, Boorowa Chinese Restaurant, Young Workwear, Mill Tavern, Debs Massage & Natural Therapies, BMA Auto Repairs, Boorowa Vet Clinic, Boorowa Real Estate and Thrifty Link Hardware.

Matt Darmody hopes he's not looking down from this height watching it happen again.

Rodeo bullfighters, a breed of their own, are natural born daredevils.

Rodeo bulls are bred to buck, bullfighters are born risk takers.

Each time Matt steps into the arena his life is on the line.

Crazy he might be, but his skill and bravery are unquestionable.

This is his story.

Matt's father, champion calf roper, Tim Darmody took him to his first rodeo when Matt was six days old and put him on his first calf at four.

Travelling around NSW, working with his parents and watching his father compete made a lasting impression on Matt.

He sat on horses as a baby, learned to ride horses as soon as he learned to walk.

His life revolved around being born into a rodeo family.

When Matt was seven his father tragically died, but the bond they had formed in their love of rodeos remained as strong as ever.

Following his father's death his mother Marion, presented the young Matt with his father's trophies and to this day they remain his most treasured possessions.

Tim Darmody's mates continued to take Matt along to rodeos and so, from his earliest days, horses, bulls and rodeos became an integral part of his life. Each year his experience and skill grew.

His mum's support, along with his own keenly focused ambition gave Matt the experience and confidence to pursue his passion to be one of the best and most talented bullfighters nationally and

internationally. A passion he has fulfilled in his last six years.

Matt grew up in and around Lake Burrunjuck, a country region a couple of hundred kilometres south of Sydney. He then moved to Yass, now his home base.

Matt graduated from Yass High in 2000 and knew he wanted to work in a life-saving field. He set his mind on the Fire Brigade.

A couple of weeks into the course Matt told the instructor that rodeo was like a religion to him, that he'd been going every weekend since he was six-days-old and had no intention of stopping.

Wisely, the instructor steered him away from a career in the Fire Brigade where defiance of the regimen of weekend attendance presented an obstacle, and so Matt set his sights on becoming a bullfighter.

Two bullfighting schools, hours and hours of practical experience deftly stepping around bulls, learning how to judge their moves, their speed and to try to predict the unpredictable, and he'd gained his first Pro Card at 19 years of age.

During a year Matt will step into the arena for about 80 events, be on the road for 11 months and struggle to find an insurance company who'll take him on.

Matt's had his fair share of broken bones over his six years of professional bullfighting.

Countless broken ribs from bull horns, a ruptured calf muscle burst out through his skin, a knee punctured by a hoof and in his first year, a severely injured neck. Matt's attitude is positive and he has no complaints.

"It's been an enjoyable road, good times, solid friendships and the glory outweighs the soretimes and makes it worthwhile," he said.

His ability to turn a bad situation into a positive one is his strength and for this he credits his mum Marion who welcomes him home when he's injured and nurses him back to health so he can go back into the arena again.

Matt's skill bullfighting has made him the first cowboy to win back-to-back International Bullfighting Championships at the New Zealand International Pro Rodeo, 'NZ Vs The World' held in November.

Matt is reserved, a fairly quiet bloke and one tends to feel he probably has more to say to the bulls than to strangers. He s at home in the unique world of rodeos and his unpretentious demeanor is disarming and instantly likeable.

"When a cowboy gets up, gets out and everything's fine, then he walks over to you, shakes your hand and says thanks mate I know I ve done my job and it's all worthwhile," he said.

- TM Rodeo