After an unqualified ride first up, Cody Heffernan re-grouped and turned his fortunes around to earn a spot in the short go round where he pulled off the highest scoring ride of the night at the 2018 PBR Great Northern Newcastle Invitational.
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The packed house erupted when our gutsy home-grown champ eventually left the chute on board Red Rat in the championship round after the first bull he drew – The Doorman – would not play ball.
But his perseverance paid off as Heffernan ended up scoring 87.5 points to secure third place behind joint winners Aaron Kleier and Cliff Richardson on Saturday night.
Giving him a final ride score of 173 points after his impressive comeback in round two when he scored 85.5 on Maynes Bucking Bulls Silverback.
Coming home strongly keeps him touch with the competition leaders and in contention for another PBR national title.
But he has a battle on his hands as Richardson now moves up to #2 in the National Standings while Kleier maintains his rankings lead.
“I think I ended up with over 300 points. It was good to come back and salvage my night – and not lose too much ground,” Heffernan says.
“My time will come.”
Testament to his hard work ethic, the 2016 PBR Australian National Champion will now turn his attention to the ABCRA circuit and compete at Walgett this Saturday night.