Tahiti Pro: Day Three
A 50-year old and a 43-year old are the best tuberiders on Planet Earth and just proved it in a day of competition at 6 - 10 foot Teahupoo. You want to call bullshit on it, but you can't because it just happened.
50-year old Kelly Slater beat World Number One Filipe Toledo.
43-year old wildcard Nathan 'Hog' Hedge defeated World Number One Filipe Toledo then World Number Two Jack Robinson.
Hog (Poullenot/WSL)
The raw numbers for the Hog and the GOAT are equally impressive. Averaging out their four heat-winning rides, the GOAT comes in at 8.25, while the Hog averaged out to 8.50. The numbers have marked out a steady decline in performance for Kelly all season but today they do nothing but underscore his continued dominance at a wave where the fast twitch fibres of youth were soundly beaten by experience, skillset, and sheer will.
Hog outlined his mental battle to remain composed after Robinson paddled around him ("That hasn't happened to me since Andy Irons") repeatedly clocking up high scores with what I thought was the most technical display of backside tube-riding the sport has ever seen. Maintaining composure for Hog came down to remembering a simple mantra, I think familiar to most Aussie surfers: “I just wanna get pitted off me head”.
Which he duly did on the biggest bombs of the heat, somehow relegating Robinson's performance to cute; almost irrelevant. Hog was an underdog of the highest order - 81% of fans picked Robinson for the W.
I was one of them.
The GOAT (Poullenot/WSL)
Asked in the booth about what he saw as the advancements in backside tube-riding, Slater graciously (or disengenuously) claimed it was mostly “the average guy has gotten better” and that the rest came down to fate.
I beg to differ. The advancements belong to Slater. Subtle positioning and dragging, a slight super-technical kick stall right at the base of the heaviest sections, hands-free pumps. When it comes to the theatre of full throttle Teahupoo he remains the lead actor.
The only other example of clear advancement in backside tube-riding has been Gabe Medina at Backdoor, who ironically honed that technique at Slater's Surf Ranch.
Kelly's the GOAT and we've become accustomed to him fending off new waves of challengers at the world's heaviest waves.
But can someone explain the Hog to me.
How does a 43-year old who last finalled here almost two decades ago, a guy who in the ensuing period could be found after midnight drunk in a gutter with a greasy kebab spilling down his face come up with performances like that?
How does a sport maintain the integrity of its competitive architecture knowing there are guys decades into retirement who can show up and eliminate the world's best, simply by being given the opportunity?
It is literally boggling my tiny mind. Can someone please present a hypothesis?
Hog (Poullenot/WSL)
Kelly didn't dig the overlapping heat format at Chopes and I stand with Kelly on that front. There were two issues. The first was not enough waves in the non-priority heat. The second was periods of such tube gluttony that it was almost impossible to keep up with the action. A criticism of the venue is that it is hard, sometimes impossible, for judges to adequately parse rides to provide correct scoring. That seemed to be the case today and it may have been that judges were sensorily overwhelmed by the sheer number of tubes that needed sorting and scoring.
I think they basically got it right.
Some scores seemed to be juiced, such as Toledo's in Heat 1 of the Elimination Round. No way in hell his heat total should have been within a point of Hog's when the siren sounded. Toledo's Opening Round effort, a 1.87 heat total in which he claimed that “the positioning was hard, I was kind of lost out there”, was redeemed by his two wave 14.83 total against Hog, even if that number was highly flattering to him.
As stated yesterday, 2022 has been a strange year. No Medina, no John John (since G-Land) a 50-year old overshadowing all with a documentary filmed three years ago. If you'd told me in January that the heat of the year would be between Matty McGillvray and Sammy Pupo there would have been polite snickering. But that is what they delivered today.
The sun came out, the tubes glowed with that holy backlit blue and the sets pumped relentlessly.
It's not often I find myself on the same side of the ledger as WSL CEO Erik Logan but when a tanned ELO took a look at the lineup, said he was “happy for the fans” and to, “cancel your reservations, cancel all your work, it's gunna be pumping,” there was no resistance in me whatsoever.
I'd lost track of who was doing what and where as far as the Final 5 went, we'll catch up on that later. All I could see was Matty M looking to be that half-yard on the wrong side of the takeoff spot for a bomb, going anyway and somehow reconnecting with fins and edge control after air dropping sideways, ala Andy Irons, to be spat out of a huge perfect keg.
Matty (Poullenot/WSL)
Thank the good lord, judges awarded it the perfect 10. But he was still in danger of losing to Sammy Pupo who was looking very, very comfortable threading huge tubes. It came down to the final exchange, Pupo needing an an 8 and change and getting a mid-7 on the buzzer.
Ethan Ewing looked lost yesterday. He was brilliant today. The surf went a bit weird in his Elimination Round heat with Michel Bourez, sleepy and wonky, but his final ride, an 8.67 deep threader, was a year-defining ride for him. He'll take enormous confidence out of that into Trestles and future campaigns in Tahiti. He surfed brilliantly against local Wildcard Kauli Vaast but the simple brutality of the sets that Vaast rode could not be denied, even if judges over-cooked the spread. No change for Ewing, he will go to Trestles ranked third in the world with a great chance of winning the world title.
Jack (Ryder/WSL)
Toledo remains in pole and Jack Robbo in the second spot. No changes there. Italo holds down fourth, despite getting beaten by close friend and perennial QS requalifier Jadson Andre, which almost had him in tears in the presser boat. He claimed it was one of the “weirdest feelings in my whole life” and asked, “why do I have to compete against my brother?”
Italo remained because Griff got pipped by Yago Dora despite riding the best wave of the heat. His last wave needed a 5.94, he backdoored a smaller wave for a 5.63.
That, as Kelly would say, is just fate fucking with you.
I do wonder if any of the women were listening when Griff said later that he was, “stoked I've put in so much hard work with backside barrel riding”.
I wouldn't call it work, but yeah, Griff looked like someone who had a plan from A-Z for almost every conceivable wave which required grabbing rail and pulling in.
Griff (Ryder/WSL)
Kelly called it a “game of inches” and “fun” before noting it was the first comp all year where he had won his Opening Round heat.
Fun? There were a handful of user-friendly waves, but I know from bitter experience that going in and sniffing around for one of those “easy” ones on a day like that inevitably ends with the lagoon draining out into a backless beast and a desperate panic-stricken scramble to get out and away from the impact zone while the coral rushes up at you with fangs bared.
The fact that Kelly at 50, and in the Quarters, can still call that fun, is heart-warming. It shows we can still root for the old guy, love him in spite of his flaws, and be gobsmacked and grateful we can still get to witness his greatness.
// STEVE SHEARER
Comments
If Hedgey wins it I'm declaring a national holiday!
Robbo's tube riding was sublime. May not have got the win but he has an unmatched comfort in the barrel
Spot on. EASILY the best in the barrel, others lucked into better waves. Seems minute errors with recovery scores higher than perfection sometimes. JJF has also suffered from this. I guess perfection can make it look too easy.
The efforts this year for all commenators to politically correctly pronounce Te-a-hoo-oo-po-o is drving me nuts.
Must be a serious clause in the sponsorship deal from the Tahiti tourism board not to bastardise the local lingo. Plus a serious commentator clause given the long pauses and scared looks before they launch into a clearly WSL-schooled version.
On an unrelated note I love the Laura and Dimmy commentary team addtion - fresh, quirky and relevant. Hope they stay on.
Yes a good change from the Amerrrrrrrican rhotic RRRRR. It is killing all the regional accents in the US.
I'm in and might get shit faced and wrestle a kebab too!
Enjoyed your take on it FR. Cheers.
“at a wave where the fast twitch fibres of youth were soundly beaten by experience, skillset, and sheer will.”
I wouldn’t say Robbo was soundly beaten. Epic performance from Hedge & it’s pretty damn cool to see the GOAT has still got it out solid Chopes.
On reflection I would say he was soundly beaten.
He got too cute and left himself wide open to Hog getting bomb sets.
Once he had a couple of those highly technical tube-rides he should have got himself into position for a bomb set.
He was beaten by strategy and execution by someone who knew they needed bomb sets and was prepared to wait for them.
Don't get me wrong, Robbo's tube wrangling was next level shitt.
Yeah that’s fair enough. Hedge was very patient & definitely had to make the most of those bombs which he certainly did. Great heat.
Yep. Can we say Robbo is the best backside barrel rider in the world at the moment?
JJF might have something to say abotu that, but his body is gettin gin the way of that claim. Robbo is doing similar stuff to Kelly, but just a bit better.
He will win pipe / Tahiti eventually I am sure.
Robbos heat score would have won every other heat including Slaters! Stoked for Hedgey but 'soundly beaten'? Nah!
Yeah, I definitely would have given it to Robbo. The really exciting thing about Hedge’s wave was that he was off balance and kind of out of control virtually the whole ride and it wasn’t so much awesome composed surfing to me, but just amazing that he was able to stay on his feet and complete the ride by pure feel. That he was nearly falling off the whole ride made it very exciting to watch (and personally relatable) but I think it was unfair scoring give Robinson’s consistency and control. I just think he got a lot of lucky points there for the chaotic nature of that ride and the fact he stayed on the board. I reckon it would have been a super relatable ride for heaps of people- amazing chaotic ride. But I don’t agree on the score. I reckon Robinson’s surfing was much more controlled finessed and well executed.
If he gets a few more like he did today he will. Hog for PM!
Good write up. Forgivably over excited about the exclusive nature of the abilities of Hog and Kelly but a good read and account nonetheless.
Fancy being amongst the crew who wrangled their way through one of those unbelievable tubes today and how they’d be blinding out right now. The surfing equivalent of a “Fat a cat can’t scratch”.
Hog still has it cause most super keen surfers still have it at 43 as far as I’m aware.
I think the answer to your question could be as obvious as local experience. Simply, they've both spent way more time on that reef that every single other competitor bar maybe the spartan. Robbo looked comfy because he has clocked comparable hours on comparable ledging lefts. It was just unfortunate (for us too) he ran into a raging Hog. Predictably, Vaast also looks the goods.
I don't know if there's any magic formula beyond nutting up and doing the time.
Hog's last heat here was 8 years ago.....his last Final 16 years ago.
By that logic we need to get Chelsea Hedges in there, and a whole host of other surfers at various spots.
Do you see where the logic leads?
I'm thinking less so muscle memory and moreso the inner confidence which comes from familiarity.
"I know I can sit here and I know I can push over this ledge. I have seen this before and I have done it before."
The best scores were the deepest, most critical waves. Those rides were reserved for those overcame their fear...and fear is (best) overcome with experience. And I don't think that experience needs to be recent.
Do you reckon blokes like Hog wouldn't watch a whole bunch of prior clips of themselves pulling into mutants and riding out to gee themselves up? Reckon Matty McG won't watch the replay of his wave a 100 or so times before trying to slay his next beast out there and be better for it? Confidence is not everything, but geez it is right up there.
I am sure Chelsea Hedges would go far if brought in. As would Rochelle Ballard. Both have considerably more sack than most of the current ladies.
I haven't heard barely peekaboo of Chelsea Hedges in over a decade now.
Seems to have intentionally gone off the radar of pro surfing from what i've heard.
Makes me wonder is she still surfing at a level where she could get a wildcard invite to a CT event.
Or is she still even surfing these days?
There's been virtually no publicity on where she's at since she retired,which is rather surprising for an ex world champ.
She still surfs and still rips.
This video of Chelsea is sick. She looks better than the ladies today.
This video of Chelsea is sick. She looks better than the ladies today.
wow, she's got the backhand tube thing dialled.
sure has so why didnt surfing australia or any of the girls dial her up and get a bit of coaching
Great call… she got erased when she quit and had a family.
Why all the talk of Chelsea Hedges?
Mb you surf journalists should look into Mel Redman....piss weak if you ask me.
Or maybe Mel Redman? How many times has she won at Chopes?
Missed most of it but the write up is a close second to the action.
Kinda feel like a kebab.
I'm a bit fired up myself Zen.
Pretty certain Hog didnt mean to slide sideways into that pit for points but great surfing for an ex pro circuit surfer. Im backing him go the underdogs!
My fantasy team got absolutely shredded!!!
Mine took a bit ot a beating too.
Starting lineup of Griffin, Jack, Kelly, Italo, Hog and Vaast.
It’s a shame for my team that the crew who’d still be ultra-contenders when the swell drops -Jack and Italo - got knocked. Let’s hope it doesn’t drop too much.
Great wrap FR. What a day. Had to pinch yourself. Hog was incredible. How lucky we are to witness a day like today and be surfers. Cheers.
Hog is our sports John Daly
such a great day of waves....wsl nearly always delivers..even if the whingers still whinge
I remember the Hog being real friendly and chatting to us as strangers in a night club in Manly years ago (no kebab). He left an impression as a real genuine, down to earth bloke, exactly the type of ambassador surfing needs. I couldn't be happier for him.
Very similar experience sharing a mediocre Currumbin beachbreak with him some years ago. A good egg.
There is some back story isn’t there ? Alcohol and Drugs maybe and then a life turnaround and a go at comebacks. Anyone know more ?
Here's a bit of it
I’m grateful for my experiences, it’s the best life you can have. You had to know how to surf and you had to know how to party. Being around your heroes when you’re young, you just want to fit in and do all those things, but when it comes time to stop, it’s not as easy as one may think. When I was on the tour, it was the Fosters ASP World Tour, and at every town it was that town’s week to shine. If you wanted to party you could party every week, all year. You can duck and weave and fly to the next spot and leave that all behind and start afresh at a new place, but it’s a crazy existence. The culture was about how good you could surf after how smashed you got. That’s how it was, last man standing. It was fun for ten-15 years but I wasn’t surfing as much. I was always hungover, missing surfs, and it didn’t do me any favours during those close heats. In the end, that lifestyle took me away from surfing. A part of me wants to talk to kids about this, but I had to do a lot of growing up by going hard and just putting myself out there. In the end, I think they’ve got to work it out for themselves, You’ve got to let them go on trips, dig themselves out of some holes and come through the other side, but at what point do you pull them up? To make five years clean and sober, I did a full live in rehab for six months. That’s the dedication it took. When they didn’t allow me to surf, it was really to get myself right. Eventually you get day leave. But the whole process took me out for six months. That was my third attempt, and it finally brought me back to surfing. It’s like having an injury you can’t see – you need to address what’s going on, take the time to recover. Being male and Australian, people think it’s a weak mentality to ask for help, but there’s help if you want it, and it’ll only happen when you get the balls to put your hand up. I started asking questions after I saw what Tommy Carroll went through. It was obvious that something had changed in him.
Wow. Thanks for sharing. Now I really hope he wins the things. Would be a cracker story to tell and reward for a recovery like that. Need more sober role models for sure.
The overlapping heats just don't work out there - it's just too short a turnaround as long as you don't get dragged thru the lagoon. The priority heat (if they're smart) just end up running laps on all the bombs while the non-priority heat sit and watch while grovelling for 3s on the leftovers.
I can't believe Jake Marshall has a free ticket on to the tour next year.
Combined heat total of 11.0 from 3 heats and over 2 hours water time.
What did he get paid for that effort?
Would be nice to hear Hog's response to your 'how'? I suspect there's a hellavu story to tell
The way Robbo speeds up and slows down and goes from high to low on the wave in the tube is incredible. The guy is a freak wave reader.
His board was matching the speed of the lip line today while he was in the barrel.
Also fr, if griff has been working on his backhand tube riding then yeah it’s work isn’t it? He is improving himself and “up-skilling” to be better at his paid profession. This is his job, it’s what he gets paid for.
Edit…
I’ve also spent the afternoon at the pub so I may be talking absolute shite
To the edit - thatta boy
Didnt have to work today. Watched every heat. Feel like Ive been on a bender. So many ebbs and flows throughout the day. Props to FR for being in the trenches. Was a great day of viewing.
Great write-up Steve and jeez the judges had it cut out for them when those pulses came. Every good wave ridden, insane day and the old boys putting on a clinic!
Go the Hog, brushing aside all the stigma that was placed on him as the party boy alcoholic. He's one of the fittest 43 years old humans I've met and shreds in all conditions. He's super clean living, got the zen tools and has that balance that most men dream of. He's doing a lot for the groms coming through the ranks and they have some sick sparring heats on the Tweed Coast. I love his humble attitude and that fire which was burning in his belly today. What a weapon!! It must have been intimidating AF with the world watching in and Robbo nailed his ass to the wall. How was that wipe out he head this morning too!!!
I saw Hogs lip launch into oblivion , handled it well I thought. Didn't faze him one bit.
Yeah that was hectic wasn't it!! I reckon all of us would've paddled back to the boat after that drilling. Plus another one hold down in the next heat. Shows his level of fitness and mindfulness tools of a buddhist monk ;)
Re hypothesis…
This is my 5 cents worth and I frame it on the context of not knowing, or for that matter, caring too much about pro surfing. Some points to take into consideration may include;
Who is missing from the comp that may have changed the results?
Are we ‘measuring’ surfing correctly? Are the measurement systems and contest arrangements forcing a stylised form of surfing that gets turned upside down when a more assertive approach to surfing a prime wave is taken?
Somewhere someone made a comment about the poor state of Australian surfing due as reflected by poor contempt results. I haven’t been everywhere man but I do know that in most places in Australia you will see individuals and groups pushing performance as hard as they can without a single judge in sight except their peers.
The older gentlemen in question have proven experience and ‘nothing to lose’ so are they taking approaches and risks that others relying on the tour for ongoing income and sponsorship can’t?
Anyway, my beer and kebabs have arrived so let the training begin haha.
In my opinion style is underscored, guys like Torryn Martin, Ozzie Wright,Rasta, Marzo and Mikey Feb, also Fish surfing like Ryan Burch isn't scored well in contests when there should be a contest for it if enough pros got into it. Somewhere like that Chile joint in that Ryan Burch/ozzie wright movie..or any pointbreak in Peru.
As for high performance quad/thruster shortboard surfing i think it's judged well but lots of under/over scores sometimes ruin it.
Also the mid year and end of year cut is stupid imo, only good thing is less time running the show.
I was very critical of hogs wildcard but today I’m eating my words. What a machine
X 2. But let’s remember he was Kelly’s hand pick because he throws a few OK shackles at him. It wasn’t like the WSL was going who is the best Chopes rider not in this comp.
Funny all the Hog nay-sayers. Double that for Slater. Spent a decade thinking Slater was over scored, now I think he makes some things look easy and can be underscored.
Thought the last wave for Vaust was way way overcooked, I mean even the commentators were suggesting he might not get the high 6, and really should not have made that heat. Griff to me was a stand out. Gee he has improved, and is great to watch.
You made an interesting point about those outside of the top tier competing FR, particularly 40+ yrs of age. Would not happen in the 100m Olympic sprints, NRL etc. Perhaps that is the beauty of surfing? A bit more mind and feel centric? KS, Hog just seem to know where to be and how to fit into a serious wave. Move outside that and Pete Mel, a bloke 50 plus, had to ride one of the best waves ever.
Would have loved the girls to get a dig today. I really think a few might surprise.
Can't compare surfing to 100 metre sprints unless it was guys just surfing in a straight line as fast as possible to the end of the wave.
The best wave for that would be Jbay.
And Fanning would probably have more world titles than Slater and Toledo would have half a dozen by now too.
They've been the 2 fastest surfers on tour this century.
Hedgey has been competing strongly in Australia in 2022… not exactly pulled out of the gutter with a kebab!
His story post tour to get himself into this position should be celebrated not made fun of.
A lesson for a younger generation of finding discipline and receiving loyalty.
He wasn’t gifted a wildcard he demanded it. That heat was everything Pro Surfing should stand for… It’s not about age it’s about commitment.
Agree - amazing wildcard and general comeback performance. Full commitment.
Amazing performance but was 100% gifted a wildcard. That’s what wildcards are especially when handed to someone like Hedge.
Yep, well said!! Celebrate the epic journey he had to put himself in those moments, that brought him to this contest, to show his prowess in and out of the water. If we all had a look in the mirror we'd see a version of ourselves being the 'guy in the gutter with the kebab'.
Be good if Hog could get the win to make up for the dislocated shoulder in that final years ago that denied him the chance to win it.
Or Kelly to win it and achieve the only stat left in the sport for him to get,winning a CT event in his 50's.
Then he should retire from the tour and just do wildcard appearances at Pipe and Chopes.
And i think Toledo has shown for the last time now he'll never be a complete package surfer.
He's completely beatable at Pipe and Chopes once they get solid by every other surfer on the tour,every time.
More than any other world title winner or constant top 5 title contender in history
How about the Hog and Kelly finale with Kelly winning and retiring and then in celebration they announce 50% of all outerknown gear……and still no one who surfs can afford a t-shirt
Great write up FR "can someone explain the hog to me?" I can't. Funny how some people were down on his wild card gift (myself included). But what a display... All this just gives us older guys a real boost. So does this red wine.
hedgehog... hedge-hog
Bonkers charging, perfect lefts, pros pushing each other to the edge, it was spectacular stuff.
Fitting send off
Yeah I certainly meant no disrespect to the Hog with the kebab anecdote- thats more of an accolade to show how he slayed those demons and elevated the best parts of himself.
My favourite B-Roll moments today where when Connor O'Leary threaded a really square west one and Joe Turpel said "he really had to get a giddy-up on that one"
and when Jack Robinson rode his last wave of the heat, realised it wasn't the score and made a motion with his hands to down-res all the expectations.
it was an anti-claim, he was letting the judges know they weren't being pressured in any way and I took it as a measure of very fine sportsmanship and respect to Hog.
Great call. Never seen that before.
Jack has it in his hands at this point.
Didn’t watch that, but that’s a classy move by Jack.
Missed most of today’s action, so thank you FR for the review, and the rest of you for the comments.
What a wave it is. Wish I had the skills, balls, etc etc to be in one of those barrels.
Not sure if anyone is across this ( or even care ) but why is the second round re-seeded ? . Example - Hog beats the number 1 seed ( Toledo ) in round 1 , now in any other man -on -man , woman -on- woman , team on team competition that has a draw the person or team that beats the number one seed then takes that seed position for the rest of the event . However the Woozle , in its infinite wisdom , decides that- no mate (Hedgey ) you just beat the no. 1 seed now we redraw and you get number 2 ( Jack Robbo) .
That seems to be ridiculous for both surfers . Hedgey deserves the No. 1 seed having knocked out Toledo and Robbo as No 2 , shouldn't have to face in the next round the bloke who knocked out no. 1 .
Anyway , great write up as always Steve , a Hog / Kelly final would be awesome !
I watched a couple of waves this morning before work and must admit Filipe looked committed and composed. That was a solid display from him.
Sounds like the Hog went all Animal on Teeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhuuuuuuupoooooooooooo! Will be watching the replays tonight!
There's no doubt 50 year old King Kelly surfed great today, but after watching the heat against O'leary a couple of times, I think Kelly got overscored, especially his 9.
It was a close heat for sure but O'leary's 8.43 was a long deep barrel that quite easily could have scored 9+ and his last wave, the 8.4 was a thing of beauty that rivalled Kelly's 9 for sure.
Anyhow the scores are on the board and won't be changed but I think Connor should've won that heat.
I’ll admit I was a bit put off by Hedgys wild card but he’s definitely earned his right to advance. I remember when I lived on the beaches 20 odd years ago and partying from afar with Hog and his mates … fuck they were wild!! Those Northie crew were always pretty extreme!! good to see he’s come out the other side!! Go Hog!
Good to hear people getting on the Hog train...... now that he's winning..... Wait for it,,,, wait for it.....You should have been here yesterday :) Leroy was here yesterday! bahahaha. :)
Look I'm wont carry on too much but just want to make the point that its the time people, the exact time, to get behind someone exactly, EXACTLY when they are half comatose half covered in kebab, half lying in the gutter. No I don't mean literally. As a metaphor
....
You lean over obviously and check for a response... 'bro .bro, can you hear me?..................................................... give it about 30 seconds..............
'Are you going to eat the rest of that kabab?'.....No response means- ......Well that is your kebab now.
Then you use your energy from newly acquired sustenance, and you pick the little animal up- dust them off -and you give it day and maybe you make some changes.
You get a bit of zen happening, visit some support groups maybe - and what ya know. Back in the game 43 years young, killing it. Tusking, hog tying opponents left and right, not to mention literally stuffing the pig while he's at it. Obviously well done Hog.
But also well done to all the friends and family and group supporters that helped get this animal back on track. LEGENDS :)
Anyway on to practical matters Leroy did a bit of cash when Hog went down to Slater in the first round but managed to win about half back in Hogs follow up heat against Toledo (a gimme ILO). You will be pleased to know Leroy then chipped away throughout the rest of the day to bring losses down to those of a respectable and not degenerate gambler.
Anyway who cares. Life's been good to Leroy.
Obviously rooting for Hog here for tomorrow. Clever little porkers left signs everywhere after today. The two top seeds, including Robbo. Crazy Crazy Crazy. Unfortunately this swell could drop though and that is not going to support our zoo members Hog or Goat. I think this Vaast kid is going to spear them both frankly.
My new mantra is 'Vaast twitch -would go switch.' Its a sign and Leroy has once again layed down the coin accordingly. Will be most happy for either the old pig or old goat to take this down for the aging beasts.
If Hog wins he may have a big party when he gets back home to Oz and end up in the gutter with spilled kebab all over himself again if he's not careful lol.
But it'd be a one off,understandable,and he'd have planty of hands to pull him up and help him this time.
LOL there's no way Hedgey is heading back there, he's put in an immense amount of work to be the best, most grounded version of himself. There's no 'one off' party experience for an ex-alcoholic and to expect that's what would happen is really the problem with society, thinking you've gotta get off your face to celebrate. It's awesome to see him thriving in his life and being an excellent inspiration for those around him.
I’ve got mixed emotions about today. On one hand Australia only has a 43 yo wildcard in the quarters. I looked at Pipe from earlier in year and we didn’t even have a horse in the Round of 16!!
With that being said the future looks extremely bright. Jack is ready for a world title and even with my John John coloured glasses on, would rate Robbo as THE world’s premier tube rider now.
Ethan was very unlucky, however in addition to being the best rail man on the planet currently, has proven he can match it in these kinds of waves.
Connor was amazing, depending on the tilt of your head, one could be forgiven for giving him the nod today also.
The other thing gnawing at me is the ‘final 5’. I just can’t sit comfortably knowing that Kanoa (insert anyone who’s had a fairly patchy year) could win the world title in inconsequential surf. I know it’s been debated to death but surfing is different. There’s a lot of luck, subjectivity, lack of consistency that a year long campaign tends to even out most years.
They used to get drama in spades at Pipe. There’d nearly always be a several guys who could mathematically win it each year. Aside from that the sideshow of requalification was nearly as interesting. That is gone now. Your Jackson Bakers and Jake Marshalls could really just piss about from G-Land onwards with no consequence whatsoever.
Hopefully a few nuggets tomorrow still and the winning women get there by getting spat out of a couple.
My favourite B roll moment was when Joe, valiantly searching for narrative, prompted Kelly to expand on his rivalry with Hog during their time together on tour.
What rivalry says Kelly, we only surfed a coupla heats. But now you mention it, there is something that the people need to know.
Turns out, twenty years ago, Hog got one over on Kelly at Jbay. At least that’s what the records will say.
Thing is though, Kelly had bath oil or something slippery on his feet. And you know, not even a sturdy goat can stay on its hooves when they’re smothered in biodynamic essential oils.
So there you have it. Record corrected. Hog’s win delegitimised. Chalk another one up in the W column for the GOAT. Kelly gets the stone that’s been driving him nuts for twenty years outta his shoe.
And the mystery of why Kelly gifted Hog a wildcard is solved.
Hog never retired. He’s been training, surfing, competing the whole time, always a stand out.
A cool vid on the Hog from the Rivals series 2 years ago....
Probably the best contest surfing I've seen all year to date! Kelly is just the absolute legend that he is in waves of consequence whilst guys like Nathan Hedge are enigmas that are still alive in competitive surfing if given the chance to perform on the BIG TOP stage! Just on Nathan Freeride, we all have a past but live in the moment which is the reality of life! Enjoy the ride!!!
Respect Nathan Hedge. Clean, free, and an amazing father, uncle, brother, son and friend and absolutely shredding as always. You have won anyhow whatever the result! Good that you clarified your comment later in this thread FR76 “ drunk in a gutter with a greasy kebab spilling down his face”. Totally unnecessary and not factual.
Go The Hog in the water and out. Watch and learn
Factual around 2005.
Doesn’t matter though, the guy is still surfing unbelievably and is showing the world what he is capable of at one of the world’s heaviest waves.
Swipe across for a fully upright backhand pit from this morn.
“A 50-year old and a 43-year old are the best tuberiders on Planet Earth”
Righto. Good way to undermine your assumed authority with a statement like that.
Imagine if Felipe didn’t redeem himself in the elimination round
Looked like he was to scared to even take off in round 1
Good to see eventually got into it
I would have given the win to Jack for two reasons, longer barrels and totally in control from start to finish. Hogs wave was bigger definitely , but he was hanging on by his toenails start to finish. Good to see Hog perform well overall after many questioning if he deserved a spot . Great comeback from the gutter story and Kelly no doubt thought he deserved a shot .
I’ve never been one to take to much of an interest in competitive surfing although your writing and observations seem to have turned that around. Thanks
Have always enjoyed your take on the contests and your writing skills, Freeride.
Was going to write this ages ago but just didn’t get around to it. The claim that Slater and Hedge showed up as the best tube riders on the planet is unfounded. JR was clearly, clearly, the best, most astute, most comfortable surfer out there.
That Hedge got him was down to skills, a big slice of luck and probably because he isn’t as good a tube rider as Jack and made that wave more difficult than it should have been, more difficult than JR would have made it look.
JR has had his luck in heats this year getting a number of buzzer beaters, but he has also been unlucky. At Pipe he made an uncharacteristic error, a fall on what could have been a good score, and then the ocean went quiet for 15 minutes. The next two heats pumped non-stop. You wrote it up as a tactical error, (and an error).
At Chopes you again claim tactical error. I’m calling this as hindsight. As that interesting book says, “Everything is obvious when you know the answer”.
On whether Slats and Hedge are the best tube riders on the planet, you are wrong. On JR’s tactics I think you are being unfair. Perhaps in an attempt to stamp your ‘impartial’ credentials. Or maybe you’re just being that over-critical Dad type.
Luck plays a major part in surf contests and in life. Acknowledging that is just facing reality.