Doughboy's heyday was the 1974 Winton rodeo, where he "cleaned up the whole show, saddle, bareback and builride".
 
"I cleaned up the ABC Queensland Bulldogging title in Mareeba, then went to Charters Towers the following weekend and defended the title there. I got out of it after that. All the cattle prices went bum around the stations and I came out towards Mount Isa. I wanted a job in the mines, and that's where I ended up and never left. I thought, 'This beats tearing around riding bulls and knocking yourself around - it's a steady job'.
 
His wife, Lyn, drove the truck for Doughboy and his mates from Clothespeg Station near Hughenden. "For a start, she was fresh out of town and just sort of wondered what was going on. By the time she'd been dragged to the seventh or eighth show, she was up there scoring with the judges, and she knew if we were going to walk out of there with money that night. She had it all worked out.
 
"We were on the bulls all the time at Clothespeg. Wednesday afternoon after dinner was practise day for us. Bullriding's like any other sport - if you're not at it fulltime and serious, don't even bother. In '74 we were all ready to go to Winton Thursday afternoon, gear all packed, and my mate said to me, Jeez, I just don't feel like travelling straight off'. So I said to Lyn, 'Unpack the gear, we're going to take a bull out', and she said 'What a mad mob of bastards'. So we unloaded all the gear, pulled our bull ropes out, took a couple of bulls out, then put everything back in and drove off, straight through to Winton. Lyn just couldn't understand it. She said, 'We're packed to go, the kids are ready'. We took three kids travelling with us. It was a matter of keep going and win, or we'll starve".
 
Doughboy has a deep scar, caused by a chainsaw, rather than "Chainsaw" the bull. "I only broke a bone in my wrist from bullriding. It's the bareback horses used to knock me around. I've played with bulls in the bush, mustering and that. We used to catch wild bulls, and you've got so much respect for them, and you know what they're really capable of. Young fellows who haven't had that bush experience don't know how really mongrel bulls can be in the bush. Guys who've had experience contract mustering in the bush are too wise to them. You know what they're thinking and what to expect from them".
 
Doughboy and rodeo announcer Max McCauley were great mates. "He really had the crowd lit up. In Mount Garnet I'd just'given him a bit of a stir - we were always digging one another, and Big Max said, 'Ladies and Gentlemen. You talk about black and white TV and the colourful shows - we have a colourful cowboy here today'. And the people didn't know what he was talking about, and next thing I came out of the chute. And the crowd went wild even before the chute gate opened. And they went, 'Ah, now we know who he's talking about, it's old Doughboy'.
 
"That same year at Mount Garnett, 150 bikies pulled up, and bikies and cowboys don't get on, full stop. And within an hour it was on. Old Ronnie Purse fixed up the ones who didn't behave themselves and the crowd just went wild. They ran the water truck in afterwards to settle the dust".
 
After settling in Mount Isa, Doughboy ended up doing pick-up work around the northwest - Normanton, Richmond, Kynuna, Boulia and Longreach.
 
"A few of the boys sort of know you and trust you. I loved the thrill of meeting all your old mates, every time you turn up, even though you saw them only a week apart. You're making new friends all the time, and you could sit down and talk to them for weeks".