Noonamah Tavern Rodeo sells out early to celebrate 50th running

The 50th Noonamah Tavern Rodeo was an electric night of action that saw one rider create history. Recap all the action and see the photos and results here.

The 50th Noonamah Tavern Rodeo is done and dusted with many calling it the greatest to date.

More than 3000 people descended on the dirt at Noonamah to witness a night of thrilling entertainment in and out of the ring.

With lots of scores on the night, it was Ben Curriez who stood tall, taking out the open bull championship while returning cowboy Les Stacey took top spot in the open saddle.

“It was a fantastic night of rodeo, maybe even one of the best here at Noonamah and the bulls and the competitors really turned it on for the sold-out crowd,” stock contractors TDM said.

“Having those interstate competitors come up really gives off a great vibe behind the chutes and everyone gets around each other even though they are from all over Australia.

“Lots of scores on the board especially in the novice bull ride which was great for the crowd.”

TDM’s bulls were full of “beans” behind the chutes, jumping all over the place and making sure to show the crowd who was the boss out in the middle.

MEGA GALLERY: 150+ photos from the 50th Noonamah Tavern Rodeo

VIEW GALLERY

A few riders and helpers copped the brunt of the bulls, with some head knocks and busted legs needing to be attended to.

“We were very happy with the bulls,” TDM said.

“The crew at the Noonamah Export Yards have been keeping them well fed which really showed last night they were full of beans.

“I think they picked up on the crowd’s energy and really showed off and got a little rowdy. “The protection’s athletes did a great job of keeping the competitors safe in that area.”

Hunter Lee was TDM’s rider of the night, tackling one of the top novice bulls.

While he didn’t manage to get on the scorecard, his victory back in May was enough to earn him the championship buckle.

“The competitor that impressed us the most last night was Hunter Lee,” they said.

“He has really stepped it up a level this year and we are quite excited to see how Hunter progresses over the next few years.”

History was also made as Curriez became the first rider to tame the beast that is Night Stalker.

After a failed attempt back in May, Curriez shocked the crowd and his peers as he rode to the eight seconds as cool as a cucumber.

Hunter Lee was TDM’s rider of the night. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“When the draws came back and we saw that Ben Curriez had drawn Open Bull ‘Ban Ban’ we knew he would be in with a chance for the win,” TDM said.

“You could tell Ben was super pumped up and wasn’t letting “Night Stalker” beat him again this time.

“Listening to the other competitors and the crowd cheer and celebrate when Ben had made the eight second mark was incredible and a great finish to the rodeo.”

Curriez took home the 2024 Noonamah Open Bull Riding Champion Buckle and earnt himself $7850 from the two Noonamah rodeos this year.

The crew at TDM also sent Curriez home with Night Stalker to live out his days as the family’s practice bull on their Livingstone property.

If you are interested in learning more about bulls and what goes on behind the scenes, check out the TDM Bucking Bulls crew on Facebook and Instagram to see training videos and more.

RODEO 2 RESULTS

Open Bull Ride:

1st Ben Curriez 73pts “Ban Ban”

2nd Brady Curriez 67pts “Good Times”

Open Saddle Bronc:

1st Les Stacey 75pts “Mickey”

2nd Seamus Fitzpatrick 73pts “Cover Girl”

Open Barrel Race:

1st Candice McDonald & Woody 13.230

2nd Leea Rykers & Chex 13.287

3rd Marih Tapp & Smokes 14.026

Novice Bull Ride:

1st Luke Wingate 76pts

2nd Layne Hetherton 72pts

3rd Darcy McDonald 70pts

Novice Saddle Bronc:

1st Seamus Fitzpatrick 59pts

Junior Bull Ride:

1st Cameron Young 55pts

Junior Bareback:

MAN TALE

U13 Bucking Pony:

1st Beau Schaecken 52pts

2024 NOONAMAH CHAMPIONS

Open Bull Ride: Ben Curriez

Open Saddle Bronc: Fenn Forrester

Open Barrel Race: Candice McDonald

Novice Bull Ride: Hunter Lee

Novice Saddle Bronc: Seamus Fitzpatrick

Junior Bull Ride: Cameron Young

Junior Bareback Bronc: Noah Dingle

U13 Bucking Pony: Beau Schaecken

Noonamah Tavern Rodeo sells out early to celebrate 50th running

The 50th iteration of the Noonamah Tavern and Rodeo sold out in record time, befitting the love and prestige of the iconic event.

The rodeo is one of the biggest events on the Territory sporting and recreational calendar, and is expected to be flooded with people on September 31.

The second event of the year will have riders from across the country make the trek north in hopes of taking out the buckle and a chance to claim the first ride of Night Stalker.

Noonamah Tavern’s publican Tony Innes said to make 50 rodeos was a great achievement but not one that came easily.

“We’re very proud to be celebrating our 50th Rodeo,” he said.

“(But) it definitely has not been all glory.

“It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of sweat and logistics to set up for such a big event.

“We definitely had our challenges over the years.

Action from Round 1 of the 2024 Noonamah Tavern Rodeo. Picture: Darcy Jennings.

“In the very early stages in 2011-2014 we were doing up to six rodeos, which is a lot of set up and pack down and logistics.

“We reduced the rodeo to 3 for the next few years and since covid, we have reduced the number to two and this works well.”

Tickets for the rodeo were sold out by Wednesday evening with thousands securing their spot at the prestigious event.

The Noonamah Tavern and Rodeo confirmed that despite a large number of inquires they would be unable to release more tickets because of venue capacity.

“We understand that we sold out early this Rodeo and there are those of you looking for tickets,” a post on their page read.

“To make it as safe as possible for you to buy and sell legitimate tickets we have created a ticket RE-SALE page with Tixel.”

As usual, there will be a full card of riders, a halftime performance, an after-party and a mechanical bull for those who have consumed some liquid courage.

“It is always the same schedule as it works, halftime entertainment always changes and this time we have Jaxs from Hot 100 doing something that will be quite amusing,” Innes said.

In regards to how many Bull and Bronc riders we are full.”

Nightstalker is the current feature bull, following a line of popular bulls to have graced the Noonamah dirt since 2011.

The original was Rock Salt who served until 2014, when he was succeeded by the very-popular Guns n Roses.

Guns n Roses remained unridden for six years with 36 attempts until he was finally ridden by Rohan Markham on his final out.

Vengeance was the one to watch in 2021 and 2022 and retired unridden to be succeeded by Nightstalker, who is known for his mighty fast spin.

Stock contractors and Katherine residents TDM Bucking Bulls said they were stoked to have nominations for the night fill up in no time at all and by riders from all over the country.

“Nominations for Noonamah filled up within hours of opening with local & interstate competitors,” Annalise Robinson said.

“We have competitors coming from SA, WA, Victoria, NSW and ACT (and the NT).

“(We’ve also had) competitors who have had a few years off but wanted to come back to ride at the 50th Noonamah Rodeo.”

TDM’S RIDERS TO WATCH

Junior Bull Ride

Jed Fairchild – From Darwin Fairchild is a very talented up and coming bull rider who is one to watch.

Novice Bull Ride
Hunter Lee – Originally from NSW but now based in the NT with the military, Lee won the novice at the Noonamah May Rodeo and is in the lead for the 2024 championship buckle.

Open Bull Ride

Ben Curriez – From Livingstone, Curriez was the only score at the Noonamah May Rodeo and came very close to riding the unridden feature Bull ‘Night Stalker’.

Originally published as Noonamah Tavern Rodeo sells out early to celebrate 50th running