THEY came from all corners of Queensland and the Northern Territory to compete in the 2012 RM Williams RM Longreach Muster over the weekend.
Eleven of the nation’s biggest cattle companies were represented at the two day Muster, held annually at the Longreach Pastoral College.
In a roll call of the Northern beef industry, competitors from the AACo, Acton Land & Cattle Company, Australian Country Choice, Consolidated Pastoral Company, Georgina Pastoral, MDH Pty Ltd, NAPCO, Paraway Pastoral, S Kidman & Co, Stanbroke, Williams River Cattle Co and the Longreach Pastoral College did battle.
Click on any of the photos in this story to see the 60 pics in our online gallery.
THE competitive streak that runs through the Acton family was on display in the Golden Spurs Campdraft. After failing to post a score in the first round, Graeme Acton, Paradise Lagoons, Rockhampton, bounced back with a run of 89. Son Tom, Moray Downs, Marlborough, also enjoyed a better run, but it just wasn’t Evan’s day. And he couldn’t blame the cattle – they were a quality line of Acton Santa steers.
BRONCO branding legend, Winton’s Charlie Rayment showed his younger competitors a trick or two. Sitting tall in the saddle, he prowled the makeshift yard roping cattle with practiced ease. He may be 80-plus years of age, but he still be one of the first men picked for any fair dinkum bronco branders.
INDIVIDUALLY they were fierce competitors, as a pair they were unbeatable – S Kidman & Co’s Chris Towne and William Goetsch are the 2012 RM Williams stockman’s challenge team champions. The pair, from opposite ends of the S Kidman & Co property portfolio - Towne, at Helen Springs in the Territory, and Goetsch from Nappa Merrie west of Thargominah - turned in a dominant display. Towne, also won the open challenge from MDH Pty Ltd’s Chris Stevenson and Paraway Pastoral’s Michael Oehlmann. Goetsch had to settle for second in the under 21 challenge behind Longreach’s Jessiah Arnold.
CHLOE McAuley, Karratha, WA, and Jasmine Carmichael, Drake, Northern NSW, are proof positive of the quality riders emerging from the Longreach Pastoral College under the expert eye of John Arnold. The pair was second in the stockman’s challenge team event while Chloe was third in the under 21 challenge. Fellow student Zoe Schaefer (pictured), Ellimeck Station, Pentland, was third in the ladies draft.
PROUD parents Helen and Neville Iverson, Megaview, Monto, travelled to Longreach to see daughter Nicki compete. They are pictured with Blackall’s Stuart Benson. Nicki, based at NAPCO’s Alexandria Station in the Territory, claimed second in the ladies golden spurs campdraft. The NAPCO team also included Alexandria head stockman Pam Gobbert and Kynuna Station manager Dave Doyle.
Don Rayment, Adria Downs, Birdsville, proved he had the gift of the gab with a string of one liners that left the large crowd at Saturday’s bronco branding smiling. When he wasn’t branding Santa steers with his Birdsville team mates, Don was behind the microphone. His best: “….now that’s cruel, crueller than Campbell Newman’s budget.”
MAKING a return to the RM Williams Longreach Muster was the team from MDH Pty Ltd comprising Nicola White, Devoncourt Station, Cloncurry, Chris Stevenson (pictured) and Paul and Theresa Allgood, Kierawonga, Marlborough. The best result for MDH, came via Chris Stevenson, who finished a creditable second in the open challenge.
PETER Hughes, Angus Rains and Joe Duggan, Georgina Pastoral Company, were a force to be reckoned with – winning the overall “champion cattle company” title. The result reflects a super consistent performance from the trio across the weekend. However, it was in the Golden Spurs Campdraft where the Georgina men came into their own. Joe won the under 21 draft, Angus was equal third in the open and Peter posted 79 and 88 point rides.
THREE riders and three steers in play at the same time - welcome to the inaugural team draft, RM Williams CEO Hamish Turner’s “big surprise” for 2012. And the result, a great finish to the campdrafting program and nail biting win for the AACo’s Joy McNeven, Grant Keane and Michael Johnson in a time of 34 seconds. That was two seconds faster than the Stanbroke team of Doug Wardell and Clint and Wendy Wockner and found seconds quicker than the S Kidman team of Helen Riggs, Whip Degoumois and Steve Kramer.