On the Northern Territory's dry-season calendar, the Noonamah Rodeo is one of the most anticipated events. Drawing spectators from the city and the bush, they come to witness the thrills and spills and celebrate living and working in Australia's remote north.
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00:00It's only eight seconds, but it feels like a lifetime.
00:06A one-handed battle often taking riders to within an inch of their lives.
00:12Actually just their mental, yeah, their mental game sort of thing.
00:15And that's just prevalent in any sport, like the winners all have champion mindsets.
00:20This is the start of rodeo season at an iconic Top End pub, 40 minutes south of Darwin.
00:26Thousands flock here to see a gruelling test of Australia's toughest cowboys and cowgirls.
00:31The hats, the bells, the shirts, the bulls.
00:35Just the experience, the noise, I love it, love it all.
00:38Preparations begin months in advance and continue until the gate swings open.
00:43The competitors aware it's as much a psychological trial as it is a thrilling spectacle.
00:48If I stuff him up one tiny bit he's going to get me on the ground so I've got to be perfect here.
00:52Rodeo has taken champion bull rider Sam Woodall as far as the US and Brazil.
00:57Riders are scored on difficulty and their anticipation of the bulls' movements.
01:01But for many who travel here from the territory's remote cattle stations to compete, this is more than a sport.
01:07Rodeo goes hand in hand with working in the bush.
01:10A big part of like ringing or working on a station are your camp drafts and your rodeos,
01:14so they won't have a day off for months at a time.
01:16It's a community and that's what the rural aspect brings, whether you're bush or in town are rural.
01:21They all come together, they all help each other out and that's why it's a community out here.
01:25A rural tradition not going anywhere soon.
01:28Rodeo is the best.
01:30Rodeo is the best.
01:33He's the best.
01:35Rodeo is the best.
01:39Rodeo means theБoo.
01:42Rodeo means that people are still Mondays!
01:45Rodeo means aantic toenесп fin.
01:52Rodeo means no one of them.