General News
4 August, 2025
Comeback kid credits Curr family for return to arena
Kelsey Pavlou had just about given up on his bull riding dreams until the Curr family came along.
Kelsey Pavlou thought his time riding bucking bulls in front of big crowds was over.
A bad groin injury had him on the sidelines and contemplating a new pathway away from the arena.
“I had 18 months off sitting on the sidelines,” the 23-year-old told North West Weekly just hours after winning the Wagners Xtreme Bulls in Cloncurry on Friday night.
“It feels really good to be back.”
There’s much more to the story of the comeback kid, however.
Pavlou, a Victorian who had been riding successfully on the PBR tour before his injury, says he owes the Curr family at Yelvertoft Station for getting him back on his feet and feeling good.
“They are a massive part of my life,” he said.
“I’d like to think of them as family. They definitely got me out of a bit of a hole and made me feel exceptionally good.
“Not only physically getting me back, but mentally getting me in the right place and making me feel ready and happy.
“They’ve done so much for me, it’s ridiculous, and they keep continuing to do so.”
Pavlou said not only did the Currs – specifically Marcus and his wife Shelley and their son Jake – take him in and give him a job on their cattle property, but they also went above and beyond to get his body repaired.
Marcus confirmed that he spoke with legendary NRL coach Wayne Bennett and asked for the contact details of a good surgeon who could fix Pavlou’s groin.
“They put all the effort into that. I didn’t even have to look,” the young bull rider said of the Currs’ efforts to get him healed.
“They helped me out ridiculously with that.
“I actually sort of told myself I was retired and I’d never do it again.
“I just didn’t think my body was going to hold up to it.
“I didn’t really want to go through the pain – not just the physical pain – of it again.
“I just told myself I was done and it wouldn’t happen again so I didn’t have to miss it. I just stuck my head down and went to work every day.”
Pavlou has taken the bull by the horns since returning to the chutes.
In his first event back – at the Yelvertoft Rodeo, no less – he won the buckle.
A luckless trip to Cairns for a PBR event was consoled with a strong victory at Cloncurry on Friday night.
There, Pavlou rode the Remfrey Rodeo Company bull Stitches for a score of 83.5 in front of a massive crowd at the showgrounds.
The young gun beat a host of talented riders, with Cody Williams the runner-up and Josh Alexander finishing third.
Some of the biggest names were unable to ride time in a strong sign that the breeding stock will be tough to beat at Mount Isa this weekend.
Pavlou will be at Buchanan Park to try his hand for a famous Mount Isa Mines Rodeo buckle, and then will return to the circuit, starting with the NQ Elite Rodeo in Townsville.
Retirement is far from his mind.