"I just love being a cowboy and riding bulls," he said.

"It's my life, I could never quit it now. I'd be lost without it."

The Victorian is one of the most promising young cowboys in the sport and in line for not one, but two tour title buckles.

READ ALSO:

In only his first full season in open competition, the 19-year old sits atop both the Xtreme Bulls Australia and Australian Professional Rodeo Association (APRA) standings.

The champions for both will be decided over the next three weekends, starting with the Xtreme Bulls in Tamworth on Saturday night.

Haling from Toora, which as Pavlou put it is "as far south as you can get", it is a 16-hour trek to Tamworth.

But long journeys are part and parcel of the rodeo life, a life Pavlou was first introduced to when a rodeo came to a town about half an hour from where he lived, and he fell in love with the moment he jumped on his first steer.

"Once you're hooked on it, you're hooked on it for life," he said.

Starting on the PBR tour two years ago (2020), Pavlou didn't take long to announce himself, winning the buckle in his first-ever competition.

The second event on the tour calendar, it has since then been pretty much onwards and upwards.

"The last two years have been really good," Pavlou said.

He has spent most of it in Queensland after making the decision to pack up and escape north.

"I knew I needed to better myself in bullriding," he explained.

"The opportunity was too good to go up there, and I had work opportunities up there (he is a contract fencer and musterer)."

It meant rather than virtually sitting at home, he was "getting on bulls" almost every weekend.

"When I first moved up, I was getting on four bulls a weekend," he said.

Saturday night's Xtreme Bulls finals will be a precursor to the APRA finals, which are being staged in Chiltern and Alexandria (Victoria) over January 21 and 22, and 27 and 28.

Pavlou then has even bigger and brighter dreams to chase.

"I'm planning on heading over to Canada and the US in April," he said.

"Me and my mate Tyson (Smith), from Tamworth, are going to head over there together."

It's something he said he's been dreaming off "since the day I first started".

"It's every cowboys dream to go over there," he continued.

As is competing at the World Finals, which for Pavlou is the ultimate goal.

Gates open on Saturday night at 4pm ahead of the mini bulls action from 5pm. The main event - the Xtreme Bulls and Xtreme Broncs then gets underway at 7pm.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: