General News
13 August, 2024
Protection athletes battered and bruised after four days of action
They were the walking wounded on Sunday afternoon.
It's fair to say the bulls got the upper hand at Buchanan Park over the weekend as both the riders and the men tasked with protecting them were looking sore and sorry on Sunday morning.
There were plenty of thrills and spills, including one incident on Friday, when a steer managed to get over the fence and into the grandstand.
Luckily, it was in the morning and the seats weren’t full, although one spectator copped a small hit.
Darryl Chong and his team of protection athletes were quick to respond, however, and had jumped the fence in a flash in a bid to keep the steer from running amok.
The team of four managed to get it back in the arena and unharmed, although it did come at a cost.
Chong dislocated his shoulder blade and put a fracture in his socket, while Harley Schofield copped a nasty cut above his eye.
“I’m very, very sore,” said the Cloncurry-born Chong on Sunday as he nursed his arm in a sling.
“I’m very disappointed with the outcome – it was the second day of the biggest rodeo in Australia and I got injured.
“This is my 18th year working in Mount Isa and in my 20-year career I’ve never been unable to finish an event.”
Chong paid tribute to his three protection athletes – Schofield, Jack Hughes and Jayden Hakaraia – as well as Luke Rosetta, who came off the bench to replace the boss.
“My crew have done an exceptional job for the weekend which has taken the pressure off me,” he said.
While back-up came, Chong originally returned to the arena.
“I went to the hospital to get an X-ray and a CT scan but I only got a little bit of morphined because I told them I wanted to come back,” he told North West Weekly.
“I got back out there but then one bull got me again ... it hurt me and popped the shoulder out again.”
Of the incident, Chong said it could have been far worse.
“It was during the junior steer ride and one of the steers jumped out and had pinned one of the spectators down,” he said.
“Me and my team went over the fence to do everything in our power to eliminate any other harm.
“They did an amazing job to get it back in the arena but we did have a few injuries.
“It happened so quickly.”
Of his own personal injury, the bull fighter said: “I thought I snapped my shoulder that’s how bad it was. It was the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced.
“I just had surgery on the same shoulder but a different injury.
“I think it’ll take some time to recover from this one.”
While there were no serious injuries to participants, Chong said he couldn’t remember a more intense Mount Isa Rodeo.
“I’ve never seen so many riders get knocked about like they have this weekend,” he said.
“Luckily no one has been badly hurt but the bulls have definitely got the better of us.”