Rein-ing champions

by Nicholas Duck
Two local champions are gearing up and getting ready to ride to feature in this Saturday's Neerim Rodeo.
Nilma North powerhouse couple and Australian champions Aaron Bookluck and Georgie Kapeller will be competing together in the team roping at this year's edition of the event and are coming in as reigning champions.
Team roping features two riders both aiming to rope a steer, one by the horn and one by the back feet. Every second matters, with the fastest time declared the winner.
Together the pair have won multiple national titles, having taken their talents all over Australia.
The duo also compete in a variety of other events, with Georgie especially successful in the breakaway roping event.
Rodeo has been a defining part of both Aaron and Georgie's lives since childhood, as Aaron explained.
"Both our families were into it and we just kept coming through from our families," he said.
"It's always been a big thing to us, we get to travel all over Australia doing what we love."
The pair remember first competing from very young ages, with Georgie recalling barrel racing when she was five and Aaron's first roping event at around eight.
"There's a lot of little kids starting out. They can start entering as a five-year-old and you see a lot of little kids racing, it's pretty cool," Georgie said.
The pair's love of rodeo is what brought them together as they became a couple eight years ago following numerous events competing together and against one another.
Aaron's first national title came in 2006 and since then he's been crowned the national champion multiple times, including in both 2024 and 2025.
In that time the couple has travelled all over Australia, from down in Tasmania all the way up to Darwin.
"We just really enjoy it," Aaron said.
"It's something you've got to practice at all times and we're lucky enough to have our own practice arena and horses. It does make it good like that, it's just something we do all the time."
In that time both Aaron and Georgie have remembered their local roots, now serving on the committee for the Neerim Rodeo.
They're now looking forward to what they hope will be the biggest edition yet.
"The Neerim event's turned into a real good family night out and the day too. It's a good spot, it's a good community. It's good that we get people from different districts come. It's a great night for everyone," Aaron said.
"Every year it just gets better and bigger," Georgia added.