Coy Robbins Finally Checks Off Cup Series Win

AIRDRIE, Alta. – Coy Robbins has been an annual favourite since arriving in the PBR Canada ranks in 2017. After being crowned the 2017 PBR Canada Rookie of the Year, Robbins has collected multiple wins throughout his tenure.

But one victory had eluded him.

He had never won at the elite PBR Canada Cup Series level.

Until last weekend.

Robbins matched up with Skori Bucking Bulls' Burnt Ends for 87.5 points in Round 1. His next opponent was another strong Skori bucker, Snoopy, who Robbins covered for 87.3 points to secure the walk-off win.

For Robbins, finally getting the monkey off his back with a Cup Series victory came with a real sense of relief.

"Yeah, it's huge. It was a sigh of relief, one could say," Robbins said.

"When I stepped off of that short round bull and Dave [Poulsen] announced that I got it done, it's been a long time coming. Some close second-place finishes, but those are usually always the hardest, where it's just a couple points from getting the win. But with enough patience and perseverance, you can prevail. So, I’m glad to have gotten it done."

Robbins said that while he has experienced plenty of success throughout his career, a Cup Series win remained one box he had never been able to check off his list of goals.

"Every year when I would write down a list of goals for the year, it would definitely be on the list since my rookie year to win one of them. And every year that I was unable to check that box, it pissed me off," he explained.

"I could look at it with the thought of, 'Why did it take me so long?' But at the same time, I am just grateful to have gotten it done finally. And I look for many more in the near future, especially with these last two coming up."

PBR Canada is loaded with talent, another reason Cup Series events are so difficult to win. Robbins added that he strongly believes he is competing against some of the best bull riders in the world right here in Canada.

"It really is riding against not only just the best guys in Canada, but some of the best guys in the world at these Cup Series events," Robbins said. "The sport itself has grown, but the group of bull riders that are coming with it is like none other. I think especially the younger kids, I think it's one of the best groups of young kids I've seen in a long time coming up, which will make it that much harder to win.

"It's a dog-eat-dog game out there, and a lot of dogs to compete against, for sure."

Before the Peace Country Invitational in Grande Prairie, Robbins was sitting an uncomfortable No. 16 in the standings. With only 18 available spots for the PBR Canada National Finals, he was paying close attention to the points race.

"I don't know what went on this year, like Alicia [Erickson] and I discussed in that post-event interview," Robbins said. "Perhaps it was getting busy at home and my agriculture business growing and diving more into the event producer side of things as well. Buying my first place here too, I think I got kind of more focus away from the arena. I let all that keep my attention and focus and let the bull riding kind of get put on the back burner, and it showed all year until I felt the pressure of needing to battle it out the last weekend of rodeos to make this year's CFR too.

"Then again here now as we go into the last stretch at PBR Canada, the same thing. I was one spot in to make the Finals, which is never a spot a guy wants to be in this time of year. But I guess I just keep going back to pressure is a privilege, and how privileged am I to be able to feel the pressure to make the Finals doing what I love."

That mindset shift, paired with one of the biggest events on the schedule, paid off immediately. Robbins’ win earned him 136 national points. He surged from No. 16 to No. 7 in the standings, going from on the bubble to title contender.

"Shifting that mindset in that direction and getting after it. These Cup events are massive this time of year. For a guy like me, who was one spot in to the Finals, or anybody that's on the outside looking in, they're huge," Robbins said. "They pay an insane amount of points. I think it moved me to seventh, so I moved nine spots off one event. So a lot can shake up. The season really isn't over until it's over because of how many points those Cup Series events pay."

Robbins' championship round bull, Skori's Snoopy, was completely unknown to the Camrose-based rider. Aside from hearing from veteran Aaron Roy, who was 88.6 points on the bull in Stavely, Alberta, at the prestigious Glen Keeley Memorial Bull Riding earlier this year, Robbins didn't even know what the bull looked like.

That played directly into his hand.

"The only thing that piqued my interest was that I didn't know him. Sometimes I'll let myself get in my head over what to pick and then picking him, you pick him because you know him and you know what he does," Robbins said.

"I've got myself in a couple situations where I've done that, picked a bull, known what he does and he does something different, but I had already subconsciously decided what we were going to do because I've seen him before. I feel I do my best when I don't have a clue about anything about the bull. That was the same case with the long round."

That trust in his own ability to match a bull jump for jump is just as important as the trust Robbins has in two-time PBR Canada Champion and current PBR Canada Stock Boss Zane Lambert to build even pens throughout the season.

"I think Zane has done a phenomenal job all year, especially when it comes to the short rounds," Robbins said.

"In the past, you could see some bulls that were maybe put in there based on what a contractor has to say about the bull, which is always, 'He's great.' I don't blame them, it's their bull. But when you get a guy that used to ride bulls and has that knowledge, setting the short rounds for right-handed and left-handed guys, he's done absolutely phenomenal."

For Robbins, the remainder of the season comes with a little less pressure.

With two more PBR Canada Cup Series events on the schedule, along with one final Touring Pro Division event, the goal now is to make up as much ground as possible and put himself within striking distance of a PBR Canada Championship.

"I think the same as always. Just show up confident, believing in what I can do. Obviously, put the work in ahead of time with the crew at Acumen. Make sure everything's firing. Just show up and do the job," he said.

"Realistically speaking, with two events, I think a guy can stay on every bull they run underneath him. And that's the goal. I'm not really looking at the standings a whole lot. It'll be what it'll be. I think I'm in a fair position now to not be comfortable, but that I should be at Finals, especially if I can show up and stay on every one they run underneath me."