ARLINGTON, Texas – Nathan Burtenshaw had a bag of ice wrapped around his dislocated right shoulder, but the pain radiating throughout his arm was not going to stop the adrenaline rushing through his veins.
Burtenshaw had just ridden Quasimodo for 87 points during Round 3 of the 2020 WinStar World Casino and Resort Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy, to push Team Australia into the event lead with only three ride attempts remaining for the Aussies inside AT&T Stadium.
“Who would have thought little ol’ Australia would be challenging the Eagles?” the tall Australian boasted. “I am real proud of the boys. They dug in, and it has been a pretty dominant performance today. It was always there. You just never seen it.”
Team Australia (6-for-16, 514.50) was unable to hold off the Team USA Eagles (6-for-16, 523.76 points) for the victory on Sunday afternoon, though.
Cole Melancon pushed the Eagles back in front for good by a mere 9.25 points when he capped the Americans’ Round 3 performance with 88.25 points on Monkey.
Cliff Richardson (3.27 seconds on Red Bandana), Lachlan Richardson (3.95 seconds on Hocus Pocus) and Aaron Kleier (4.85 seconds on Canadian Mist) all then got bucked off as the Australians could not record that much-desired final ride to win their first Global Cup.
The Eagles had left the door open, too, with two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood (1.66 seconds on Nailed) and Melancon (4.9 seconds on Air Support) bucking off in the final Bonus Round.
Australia now has runner-up finishes in two of the past three Global Cups. Australia lost to Team Brazil in Sydney, Australia, in 2018 by a heartbreaking 0.75 points.
This weekend is Australia’s best finish on American soil in international competition. The Aussies finished third at the 2010 World Cup and in fourth place at last year’s Global Cup.
Team Australia head coach Troy Dunn said this weekend’s performance in Arlington serves as a true indication to his team that they can not only compete but win against the United States on American soil.
“They know now how to win and mix it with them,” Dunn said. “I don’t think they believed they could mix it with them. We just have to work harder than everybody else. That is what it boils down to.”
Australia led all teams with five different riders recording a qualified ride, and Kleier – the reining two-time PBR Australia champion – finished 2-for-4 with an 84.25-point ride on The Tickler and 84.5 points on Full Count.
Eagles head coach Justin McBride commended Dunn’s coaching performance this weekend.
McBride said in his post-event press conference that Dunn has a special ability to elevate his riders’ game, and that everyone saw that this weekend.
“Australia has a really good secret weapon, and it is not that secret. His name is Troy Dunn,” McBride said. “He is one of the greatest bull riders there has ever been, or ever will be, and he is a great leader. Those guys will follow Troy Dunn anywhere. When he sets them set of bulls for them, they believe it, too. That showed up in a big way, and a big congratulations should go out to Team Australia.”
Burtenshaw said the Australian locker room rallied around each other following its 2-for-8 showing on Saturday night.
The team rose to the occasion to go 4-for-8 Sunday, and can leave AT&T Stadium knowing they were only one ride away from upsetting the Americans.
“We are all comfortable here riding together,” Burtenshaw said. “We don’t worry about anything else. We just have to ride. We are brothers. We are real tight-knit people. We are probably the tightest team.”
Dunn has never shied away from the fact that Australia has a smaller crop of bull riders to choose from compared to the bull riding powers of Team USA and Team Brazil.
However, what the Aussies lack in numbers, they very much make up with heart, determination, grit and passion.
Everyone witnessed that on Sunday.
“We don’t have quite a great amount of depth,” Dunn said. “There are not a lot of riders in Australia, but what is there has a lot of heart and a lot of ticker. At the end of the day, it is going to boil down to hard work. It is simple as that. They know that now.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko