Troy Wilkinson warmed up for Saturday night's PBR Iron Cowboy event in Tamworth with a second consecutive top three finish at the season ending Grand Finals event at Townsville on the weekend.
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Following on from his second in Adelaide, the Upper Horton native was third behind Gresford's Lachlan Richardson and 2018 world champion Kaique Pacheco, who was making his much-anticipated global return to competition.
Held over two nights, the event saw 17 of Australia's top riders, as well as five internationals battle it out for a share of the $100,000 prize pool.
Wilkinson had a 3-for-5 257.8-point two nights, which included an equal event top 88.25 on The D.O.C to win the fourth round.
He was then one of only three of the eight cowboys to make time in the final, scoring 86.5 for his ride on POA Lock n Load to take second.
His Townsville effort put Wilkinson fifth in the end-of-year standings as young Queenslander Aaron Kleier was crowned the PBR national champion for a second consecutive year.
"This weekend has been the best Finals since our inception in Australia 20 years ago. It's a big congratulations to all the riders who made it possible from me," PBR General Manager Glen Young said.
The attention now turns to Tamworth's AELEC for the start of the 2020 title race.
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Some of the biggest stars in world bull riding are Tamworth bound including Kleier, Pacheco and fellow Brazilian Rubens Barbosa.
"Having riders of the calibre of Kaique and Rubens make the journey to compete in Australia is a great opportunity for our sport here. PBR fans from around the world have been closely monitoring Kacheo's return to competition, and fans from around the globe tuned into our Ride Pass broadcast to see all the action last weekend from Townsville, and we expect the same this weekend in Tamworth," Young said.
"These guys are machines and will no doubt test our best bulls which will be a great experience for the live audience. Kaique's first competitive ride last weekend saw him place second in the PBR grand finals event, so there's no doubt that he is in form and well on the way to making his comeback for the 2020 season."
Earlier this month Wilkinson told The Leader: "there would be nothing better than putting on a good show and picking up a win in front of my friends and family".
He will fly the flag for Tamworth on Saturday night along with Ethan Watts and Lachlan Slade, who has recently re-located to Tamworth from Warwick.
Watts placed eighth on the weekend and is currently ranked ninth in the Australian standings while Slade finished 13th at Townsville and 14th overall.
