"Hello..." "Yeah hello, is this Occy?" "Yeah..." "G'day Occy, it's Stu from Swellnet here. I'd like to talk to you about the Jim Beam Surftag final this weekend" "Well I'm lined up for check-in at the airport but I've got a few minutes" "Great, it's about the fact that you're surfing for Snapper Rocks against your old club, Cronulla" "Oh gee..um...I don't know if I can talk about that now...ha ha...the guys from Snapper are right next to me in the queue. Can you call later?"

Since he left his original hometown of Cronulla for the Gold Coast, Mark Occhilupo's loyalties have been divided. Occy has found a new competitive home with the the Snapper Rocks Boardriders Club, however, if he's down south, he'll don the singlet for Cronulla Sharks Boardriders. Just for old times sake. The two clubs rarely meet so the division hasn't been a problem.

But with quality surfers in each club and a national series bringing all Australian boardriders clubs together it was inevitable that the two clubs would meet. And tomorrow they do, at the Jim Beam Surftag National Final, held at Avalon in Sydney.

In Heat 2 on Friday Snapper Rocks will be up against Cronulla (plus Margaret River and Noosa in the four-way heat) and Occy is torn. "It feels like I'm surfing against my best friend," he told me once everyone was out of earshot. "I've just got to forget who I'm surfing against and give it my best."

It's not the first time he's been in this situation however, a couple of years ago Snapper also drew Cronulla. What happened then? "Oh, the captain of Snapper rested me that time," he said with a laugh.

And do you think you may get rested again this time? "Nah, there's too much at stake. I'll be surfing and I'll be putting in 100%. We'll all be friends once we get back to the beach." To which he added with a chuckle, "I hope."

The Jim Beam National Surftag Final begins at Avalon Beach today with the Club Champions from each qualified club battling it out. Tomorrow the first rounds of the Surftag Final begin and they will culminate on Saturday. Click here for further details.