Nearly 500 tonnes of dirt has been trucked into the venue for Saturday night's Rodeo 4 Life, Australia's richest bull riding and country music spectacular.

It's hard to believe that, just days ago, LaMelo Ball recorded the first triple-double of his NBL career to lead the Hawks to victory at the WEC.

Albion Park resident Paul Duran is leading a small but enthusiastic team working to construct the Rodeo 4 Life arena. Work began on Thursday and is expected to finish on Friday.

It's the first time he's taken on a project of this size. No pressure, right?

"It's coming together a bit quicker than we thought. It's always good to have a bit of spare time up our sleeves," the 27-year-old said.

"We've got pretty much all the dirt in, and we've got the chutes and backyards in. It's tricky to get it right for the crowd so everyone can see. It's also about getting the material right so the bulls don't injure themselves."

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Twenty-five elite bull riders - including international champion Toby Collins - will test their skills in Saturday night's competition.

Duran, who is also taking part, will attempt to stay mounted for the full eight seconds on the legendary JP Gill and Sons' rodeo bulls.

"They're all different, but some bulls are harder than others," he said.

"It's a massive adrenaline rush to get up on a bull but it's good fun as well. You don't really remember much, it's just a blur. I got involved through my brother-in-law, he used to ride. I got on a couple when I was about 20, loved it and never looked back.

"I've won a couple of bull rides at local rodeos, but nothing big.

"I got on 10 bulls last weekend [in preparation[ which turned out alright. Hopefully I'm up to scratch on Saturday night."

Rodeo 4 Life is being held to raise funds for the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital's Transplant Institute.

It's a cause close to the heart of event organiser Doug Vickers, who received a liver transplant four years ago.

"I've been putting together this event because I had to do something to help the people who donated their organ to me and kept my life going," he said.

"It's hard to say thank you and I figured this would be a way of saying thank you, to raise money to help take the research [at RPATI] further.

"We want to raise as much money as we can. We would like to get about 3000 people, because that's what we've catered for. I think the night should go very well and people will be entertained.

"I think if we can pack it out, that would be very good for its first year."

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