“
I try and highlight
the cool things
about trials that
people want to
see... not just
sitting there
balancing
Rhianna Buchanan.....
Okay, Rhianna, your turn! How did
you get into riding and how did you
and Jack meet?
I pretty much grew up in a motorcycle
shop, so it was always something I
knew and was interested in. We had
a bit of a country influence, so me,
my brother and sister were always out
riding bikes, paddock-bashers, ATVs,
buggies and stuff. There was always
something going on.
I met Jack when I was doing promo
work for a clothing brand at an event
on the Gold Coast back in 2007. We
were set up beside them and I guess
one thing led to another. It turns out
Jack and his Dad were probably
customers at our shop for years, but
we only found that out after we started
seeing each other.
As talented and successful as Jack
Field is, it’s his partner Rhianna who
drives them both to new heights.
Rhianna, 29, looks like she’d be more
at home gracing glossy pages as a
model (she’s done plenty of that too),
but she lives for anything actionsports related as much as Jack does.
As well as being an accomplished
moto and stunt-rider in her own
right, “Yana” has also commentated
at the Monster Energy Cup the past
two years and has also confirmed
she’ll become Australia’s first female
Monster Jam truck driver next year!
76 | FreestyleXtreme.com
You’ve been a commentator for the
Monster Energy Cup for the past
two years. How did those Americans
find an Aussie girl to help with the
live commentary?
That came about during the first pit
party freestyle trials show we did. It
just happened that the supercross
director was walking past and heard
a female commentator with an accent
and stopped and watched. He liked
how we engaged with the crowd,
then a month or so later I got an email
asking if it was okay if they put my
name into the hat for the MEC. I said
“of course, no worries” and didn’t think
anything else of it. I mean, what are the
chances of having a female Australian
announcer? A month or so later they
emailed me back and said they’d love
to have me involved. That blew my
mind.
That’s a high-pressure situation,
announcing a live event in front of
tens of thousands of people. How
do you deal with that sort of thing?
Talking in front of people doesn’t
phase me, but the first year I was
worried they wouldn’t be able to
understand me. I tossed up whether I
should change the way I speak, but at
the same time that was why they had
me there. But there’s so much going
on and a lot of the time when you’re on
the floor, you really can’t see a whole
lot, so you try and keep up as much
as you can. You can only do your best,
embrace what’s going on and hope the
crowd feeds off that.
As well as that you do a bit of
stunt-double riding as well. Did
that come about because of Jack’s
involvement in The Wolverine?
Yeah. I was down there as a mechanic
and helping where I could with ramps
and ideas. The stunt coordinator found
out that I rode as well, then a month
or so later they called and asked me
to ride a bike as they didn’t have any
guys small enough to double as the
female lead. I jumped straight on it and
rode the Ducati and drove the Audi R8
as well - which was fun.
Wicked! Have you done any other
films?
I’ve done two TV commercials and
was in Hong Kong a couple months
back stunt doubling for Scarlett
Johansson in her new movie Ghost in