Big bucks

They say this is the toughest sport on dirt and who are we to argue. It's certainly bone-jarring, bone-shattering excitement that's absolutely compelling to watch. Professional bull riders are the new gladiators.

Superstar cowboys versus super-sized beasts, playing to sold-out stadiums and millions of fans. Throw in the fireworks, rock music and razzamatazz and you have the fastest growing sport in America.

Big bucks, in more ways than one. Not only that, there's a Aussie champion as well, a bloke called Brendon Clark, who'll join his mates here next month for the bull riders' World Cup.

It's fast, it's fierce. It's one of the shortest, most brutal rides in sport. The rules are simple — for the cowboy, hang on for eight seconds. For the bull, buck him off before the buzzer. And on how much pain these bulls can inflict? There are absolutely no rules.

COMMENTATOR: You gotta love that bull!

TARA BROWN: Does any of this make sense to you? It's so dangerous you can smell it. 700-800 kilos of thrashing bull, 70-80 kilos of bloke trying to hold on with one hand. Once this gate opens, it's eight hellish seconds between hero and hick.

BRENDON CLARK: There's nothing that's as scary as tying yourself onto a 2000-pound bull that's — all he's trying to do is get you off his back and stomp the hell out of you. There is nothing more scary than that. A lot of people think that you're stupid 'cause you're doing it but, you know, I love it and I wouldn't change it for the world. This is the serious part of the job right now.

TARA BROWN: Twenty-six-year-old NSW country boy Brendon Clark is now based in the US. He's been riding bulls since he was 13, so as he prepares for the first ride of the weekend here in Billings, Montana, he's ridiculously relaxed. Others aren't so calm. Don't do it, Brendon. Don't do it.

BRENDON CLARK: I'm a professional, it's all right. Don't try it at home, though.

TARA BROWN: No.

COMMENTATOR: The man from Australia!

TARA BROWN: Eight seconds feels like a long time when you're watching someone being tossed around like a rag doll. He's made the time, but how's this for bad luck? Brendon's free hand has illegally touched the bull and he's been disqualified. But, it could be worse.

BRENDON CLARK: I mean, you could die doing this and that's what the reality of this sport is. You know, it is a very dangerous sport. It's not something you want to do half-heartedly, it's not a sissy boys sport.

TARA BROWN: Like all these young riders, all Brendon wants is to win this year's world championship and the million-dollar prize money. The man selling the dream is Randy Bernard, the boss of Professional Bull Riders, or PBR.

RANDY BERNARD: Most of these cowboys come from very average or poor lifestyles and this is a way that they can get ahead. Um, you know, a very blue collar type of family roots and I think people love that about our sport.

COMMENTATOR: This is the one and only PBR!

TARA BROWN: Randy Bernard has revolutionised this sport by replacing the rodeo with rock 'n' roll. He's turned his cowboys — the top 45 riders in the world — into celebrities ...

COMMENTATOR: Justin McBride ... and his bulls into fearsome superstars. This master of marketing has made bull riding a stand-alone sport and a serious business.

RANDY BERNARD: We are the fastest growing sport in the United States; we have over 19.4 million fans here. And, uh, our television audience will be over 500 million homes across the world — over 84 countries we'll be broadcast on now.

TARA BROWN: Who is the biggest celebrity — the rider or the bull?

RANDY BERNARD: We say that there's two great athletes in every eight-second ride and we sell three times more bull merchandise than we do on the cowboy.

TARA BROWN: If the razzle dazzle reminds you of the wacky theatre of world wrestling, there is one major difference — bulls can't be choreographed, and the injuries here are real. Ringside, it's sickening to see this big bull squash this small bloke.

COMMENTATOR: Mike White does take a shot right here. You can see this bull can go down on top of him.

TARA BROWN: It doesn't look good but whatever Mike White's injury, it doesn't stop the show. There are plenty of fall guys busting to take the ride and the risk as PBR doctor Tandy Freeman will tell you.

TANDY FREEMAN: We see the same sorts of things you see in motor vehicle accidents. Things like spine injuries, head injuries, lungs that get collapsed from broken ribs, injuries to liver and spleen, so, really, the whole gamut of trauma.

TARA BROWN: And that's just a normal day out?

TANDY FREEMAN: It can be a normal day, any day we can see any of that, yeah.

TARA BROWN: How are you after last night?

MIKE WHITE: I'm livin'.

TARA BROWN: You're living? It's great to see you standing. Twenty-four hours after his encounter, Mike White can walk but with a suspected broken shoulder he can't do much more. Believe it or not, he's used to much worse.

MIKE WHITE: I broke my neck last year and broke my neck also in '99.

TARA BROWN: What are you doing riding bulls?

MIKE WHITE: Well, I dunno. I've been, I've been, I guess my whole career I've been injured, the whole career of riding bulls, so I'm kind of used to it now.

TARA BROWN: Do you accept that bull riding is a thrilling sport to watch?

STEVE HINDI: (Laughs) I will tell you what I would say about bull riding — if you have a life and if you've got a brain and if you have any kind of sensitivity for what animals are going through, then you're not going to care for bull riding.

TARA BROWN: Steve Hindi quite clearly sees the bull as the victim. He's a leading anti-rodeo campaigner who believes bulls aren't made to be ridden. They're tormented into bucking by flank straps and electric prods, evidence of which he's collected over many years at small rodeos.

STEVE HINDI: There's really no reason to shock the bull other than they're afraid that he's not going to buck because they're not born to buck. You know, so why anybody would goad an animal or torment an animal into acting in a way they wouldn't normally act is just — I don't understand it.

TARA BROWN: Does PBR use electric prods?

RANDY BERNARD: No. We, um, do not allow electric prods; we have a fine for them if they do. You'll never see one of our bulls hurt. We've had, ah, four serious injuries out of 90,000 bulls bucked, so I, you know, on the cowboy side, we have an injury — one out of every 15. So, if there's any type of cruelty, it's to the human.

TARA BROWN: You don't think the fact bulls are bucking tells you they don't really like you riding them?

BRENDON CLARK: Well, maybe they don't like us riding them, but if they buck seven times a year for eight seconds and they're worth a million bucks, I think that's a pretty good, pretty good life, if you ask me. And then they get to be out in the pasture with cows, it's a pretty good life. I'd like to be a bull when I come back.

TARA BROWN: At home in California, Brendon Clark can get away from the arena, but not away from the bulls. His girlfriend, Anna Hunt, breeds bucking bulls. If you get a good one, it can be a lucrative game but in this drought-stricken dust bowl, it's a hard existence.

BRENDON CLARK: Scare you? We don't need him anyway.

ANNA HUNT: (Laughs) I wasn't scared of the bulls, I was scared of you.

TARA BROWN: She may be pint-size but Anna is one tough girl. What are you doing with a lunatic who chooses to ride bulls for a career?

ANNA HUNT: I've tried to date guys that were out of this business and I think they're pansies. If they won't do what I'm doing, I think they're wimps and I couldn't put up with a pansy of a man.

TARA BROWN: So, Brendon's not a pansy?

ANNA HUNT: No, I like him to be a metrosexual but he's not, um, he's not a pansy at all.

TARA BROWN: In the world of bull riding, they make a glamorous, formidable couple. In this sport, cowboys like Brendon earn the highest scores if they can ride the toughest bulls. Anna promises to deliver a nasty, kicking, bucking machine. And you reckon you can breed the biggest, meanest bull of them all?

ANNA HUNT: I can't wait. And I want Brendon to draw him and I want to write a story about it and, well, make a movie about it. That's my dream.

BRENDON CLARK: If you're gonna breed one, he's exactly like you'd wanna breed. Not, you know, that's what everyone's after.

TARA BROWN: So, good job, Anna?

BRENDON CLARK: Yeah, so good job, Anna. That's about it. Pat on the back for her. Squeeze, squeeze, Jase. Don't quit!

TARA BROWN: Brendon's been in the States for four years teaching up-and-coming riders for nothing and earning a little under $500,000 from the PBR competition. But still, the title of world champion eludes him.

BRENDON CLARK: That's what I strive for every day, that's why I wake up every day, trying to be a world champion. I know I can do it. I know I'm one of the best bull riders there is in the world, if not the best.

TARA BROWN: Being cocky might come with the territory but the bloke currently leading the championships, Justin McBride, finds nothing funnier than ribbing the kid they call 'Koala'. What's he like as a rider?

JUSTIN MCBRIDE: As a rider, he's mean and grouchy. He, uh, yeah, he throws a fit. He's a really poor sport.

TARA BROWN: Does he have any chance?

JUSTIN MCBRIDE: In all reality, Brendon really does have a chance. Not only is he a talented guy but he's tough. And he kind of does have the whole package. And if y'all show this to him, that I'm saying anything nice about him, I'll kill ya.

TARA BROWN: But tonight, the bull gets the better of Brendon, tossing him off after 7.6 seconds — just 0.4 seconds from glory.

ANNA HUNT: So close, yet so far away. When he does ride, he's unbelievable, but when he's getting bucked off, he's a little Tasmanian devil.

TARA BROWN: It hasn't been a great weekend for Brendon but, ever the optimist, he's convinced his last ride will be sensational because he's drawn the best bull. Everyone says the bulls are the real superstars of the show because of their personalities. This bull's called Three Spot. Brendon's going to be riding him later today and he hates being pointed at. (Shrieks and giggles). My bull whispering may have worked. Watch this.

COMMENTATOR: Brendon Clark on Three Spot. He is all smiles — 88.5 Brendon Clark.

BRENDON CLARK: About time, huh?

TARA BROWN: Well done! Next month, Brendon will ride in front of a home crowd. The whole show is coming to the Gold Coast for the sport's first World Cup. Of course, 'Koala' Clark is as confident and competitive as ever.

BRENDON CLARK: Them other guys think they're gonna turn up and just beat us so easy. I know that there's already talk about it but I don't think they've got a chance.

TARA BROWN: Do you mind them calling you 'Koala'?

BRENDON CLARK: Everyone knows about koalas being cute and cuddly but then when you try and corner one they get real fierce and angry. So that's why I've got that nickname.

TARA BROWN: That's you, is it?

BRENDON CLARK: I guess that's me. Back me into a corner and I'll come out swinging.