Most of the campdrafting will on Friday, and the rodeo with all its thrills and excitement will be happen on the 18th.

Dungog Rodeo will be celebrating 70 years of campdrafting on the 17th. There have been some amazing rides over all of those years, and some remarkable characters. And, too, some remarkable horses.

Dungog has produced as many of those memorable characters as anywhere else. Blokes like J K Mackay, who was responsible as anybody for the beginnings of rodeo in Dungog, way back in 1945.

Gordon Harley, whilst not a competitor, his energy and boundless enthusiasm helped to get many things up and running in Dungog.

And Jack Martin “Monkerai Jack”. When I was a kid, Jack Martin practically owned campdrafting. He was, and still is a legend in Camp Drafting circles.

The recently departed Ken Rumbel, who bred a few of the most respected stock horses of his time. And never forget Jim Jupp, roughrider, campdrafter extraordinaire, gentleman. 

Wonderful characters all, along with many others. And on Friday 17, you can see the present day legends.

Warwick Lawrence from Maitland, Warren “Bobcat” Richards, nic-named after his famous horse of a few years ago. These are the blokes, who, given a good day and a little bit of luck, will win an open draft any where they care to enter.

And then you have all the hundreds of other competitors, almost any one of whom, if they get the right steer, and if they “hold their mouth right” as the saying goes, are capable of winning.

Some of the very best horsemanship will be on display at Dungog Showground on April 17. Come on over for a couple of hours. It will be going all day, from 6.30am.

And then, on Saturday, the rodeo. Saturday starts at 6.30am, too, with the junior and juvenile drafts, and the Col Stuckings Dungog Diggers Memorial Open Camp Draft. This is a $1000 draft, and is sponsored by Dungog RSL Club.

At 10 o’clock on Saturday morning, the action begins in the main arena. Yessir, it’s rodeo time.

Everyone knows about rodeo. It has to be one of the most exciting sporting contests going around. And it also has to be one of the, if not the only, basic sporting contests left.

This is a sport that has sprung from the earliest of times, when man began to domesticate animals. When the friends and neighbours of the best began to recognise their skills and turn it into a sporting contest. I doubt it was called rodeo, but the basic skills were the same.

So, on Saturday you can come along and watch sport’s most basic skills.

There is the ‘over 40’s bull ride’. Some of these blokes are on the wrong side of 50! Once a cowboy, always a cowboy, I guess.

There is along with the $1400 open bull ride, the $500 Tony Hudson memorial chute-out, for the 10 top scorers in the open ride. The Ccute-out is winner take all, along with a trophy buckle.

And, for goodness sake, there’s the bronc riding, the steer wrestling, the girls with their barrel racing. All of this and more. Why would you want to be anywhere else? 

Of course, the bar and barbecue will be going. Joes Snow Cones will be there.

Bean-About Coffee will be there. And the PBOZ bus will be there, with all that great country gear. Shirts jeans boots belts, you name it, PBOZ has it.

And there’s live music.

In Like Flynn”from Gloucester will be there doin’ their thing from 8 ‘til midnight, Saturday night.

And, of course we have to say a big thank you to all our sponsors and cattle donors.

People of Dungog, you should support these folks. Without them, the rodeo, the show, or anything else could not happen.

They get hit for sponsorship every day, you should buy your stuff from them.

Be at the Dungog Rodeo. You will have a great day, and it’s cheap.

It’s a full day and half the night of entertainment, for the price of a ticket to the movies, which goes for a couple of hours, max.

What’s not to love about that?