(Editor’s note: PBR media release)
PUEBLO, Colo. – As Team Australia looks to capture its first-ever PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Global Cup event win at the 2020 Global Cup USA, 1998 PBR World Champion Troy Dunn will return to lead the nation for the third consecutive edition of the five-nation showdown. Additionally, 10-time World Finals qualifier Brendon Clark will partner with Dunn as assistant coach.
The fourth edition of the PBR Global Cup, the only nation vs. nation bull riding competition, will make its second stop at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on February 15-16, 2020. The new team tournament debuted in Edmonton, Alberta, in November 2017, visited Sydney, Australia, in June 2018, and most recently stopped in Arlington this past February.
While Dunn and Clark will lead a smaller contingent of riders, six cowboys and an alternate, a previously revealed competitive change for the 2020 edition of the event in Arlington, PBR has also announced that coaches will now have full selection power over their rosters.
Dunn, an eight-time PBR World Finals qualifier, is the lone Australian to ever be crowned a World Champion. Additionally, he won the most prestigious event in bull riding, the PBR World Finals, in 1995 and 1997. He is one of just three athletes in league history to win the World Finals in multiple seasons, joining Robson Palermo (2008, 2011 and 2012) and J.B. Mauney (2009 and 2013).
The legendary Australian bull rider first joined the Global Cup ranks in 2018 when he assumed the duties of head coach for the event’s debut in Sydney. Competing on home soil, the Queensland native led his team to a valiant runner-up finish, finishing just 0.75 points behind event winner Team Brazil. In Arlington, Texas last February, Team Australia was fourth under Dunn’s guidance.
Known for his belief in the importance of team camaraderie, largely informed by his three stints as the coach for the Australians at the PBR World Cup, Dunn hosted the first-ever Global Cup training camp in advance of the 2018 event in Sydney.
Clark will complete the Australian coaching roster, making his PBR Global Cup debut as the nation’s assistant coach. In 2019, the role was appointed to Nathan Burtenshaw, who was unable to compete due to a fractured collarbone sustained two weeks prior in Sacramento.
Much like Dunn, Clark also has his name firmly etched in the record books as the lone rider from Australia to eclipse more than $1 million in career earnings riding for the PBR. One of 39 different riders to cross the threshold, the 10-time PBR World Finals qualifier earned more than $1.02 million during his 12-year career.
While Clark will be making his Global Cup debut at the 2020 event in Arlington, he is no stranger to the team format. A three-time competitor for Team Australia at the World Cup from 2007-2010, Clark was the land from Down Under’s top performer in 2010 when the nation finished a series best third.
Team Australia is the second roster of contingents to be announced, joining Team Brazil, to be led by head coach Renato Nunes and assistant coach Guilherme Marchi.
The remaining head coach and assistant coach pairings will be announced in the coming weeks.
