Not quite Derrick Rose but jeez what could have been.

The Tom Trbojevic of surfing. (For those non NRL followers - a superbly talented, humble and likeable player who absolutely dominates when fit but is a thoroughbred and spends half his career out with injury.) For a sporting product (WSL) which struggles to gain traction with not just the masses but surfers themselves, a big loss (probably more a loss for the surfers.)

That's a bummer man.

Dare say his pro career is done even if he comes back his confidence levels would have to be a bit off....always in the back of your mind will it happen again........

so whos going to replace him at el salvador

Bugger.

Sort of felt like he hasn't quite managed to kick in top gear all year.

Maybe he's been nursing the injury longer than he's let on?

At this point he has nothing to prove in the jersey... would love to see him chase swells with his bro

Might explain why Jack got the scores in Gland. WSL need an English speaking hero for balance.

Pity…will never get another world title. Such a good dude.

That’s a massive bummer.

I’m hoping now he recovers and goes on free surfing benders around the globe.
He’s got nothing left to prove in competition.

I hope he returns to competition because watching him surf live and unedited is one of the great joys of watching pro surfing.

People talking as though he’s a race horse that broke his leg.
It’s an MCL. Unless it’s a full rupture (which I highly doubt given he surfed still in G-Land), he’ll rest, rehab and should be alright in 6-8 weeks. The other positive is it’s his front leg, much less valgus force (think drop back knee position) than if it were his right leg.

i can understand why freeride and stunet and co go on and on about all this stuff, but if you're not one of them you really need to get a fucking life.

Agreed hall of lame

What a shame. Medina/JJF rivalry should drive surfing forward. However, there was no real rivalry and this season is a write off for both. I find the whole thing to be really uninspiring.

dam, feel for the guy, injuries are super frustrating, those epic turns and airs that only he can muster are writing cheques his body can't cash. Im gonna tell him to stick to the sail boat till fully rehabbed this time round.

Bad news for JJF - an MCL can be repaired of course, but each time this happens, he loses a bit of flexibility and confidence.

Been thinking about JJF and his boating life lately.

The bastard has life sorted. Knee issues are heavy as a competitor and a surfer but he still has it all on a string.

Get better mate!

Problem for JJF competitively is what comes up must come down.

He's obviously World Title material, so every year when injury robs him of the chance to contend will diminish motivation.

Why bust a nut if you can't be number one- when you are obviously either the best surfer on the Planet or top 3?

John John has been a delight to watch, and seriously inspiring on the carving snowboard style carves on huge waves on little boards (interesting designs too!) front. If it is not to be, I'm looking forward to see where he goes into the future, like everyone said there's a lot of interests he could follow really well.

Yep, Imagine him chasing huge lumps of water around the globe with his brother. Tahiti last week, Fiji next week. I would love to watch that way more than his scratching at 3 foot (ok Craig there were a few 4fters) boring inconsistant comps

Ongoing knee problem it seems. Saw him at Snapper back in 2018 just cruising cos of knee issues.

His bro Nathan is big on weight training and cross-fit type of HIIT strength and conditioning training.
Maybe Jon should get on the program and see if that helps things.

Who’s to say John isn’t putting the work in? He’s not going to Instagram it. The lad has come back from two bad knee injuries to blow minds and win comps - you don’t do that if you haven’t put the work in.

There is no peer reviewed evidence that demonstrates various forms of preventative style training and avoidance of injury. It simply isn’t there.

Of course it makes sense the fitter the better but this guy is fit. People are unlucky. He’s dealing with an unpredictable environment, he puts himself in some outrageous positions with absurd forces through on top of that.

If you look at the list of fair dinkum heavy water surfers (not to mention other extreme sports: snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding, motocross etc) you would be hard pressed to find any athlete that hasn’t had multiple serious injuries over their career.

How many footy players retire due to several knee and shoulder injuries? They do the work they are mostly unlucky.

Solitude, you can tell by the look of his legs that he hasn't.

And of course strong legs/glutes stabilise you and prevent injuries. JJF has now had so many knee injuries, and different ligaments too boot, that a few warning bells should have gone off.

I count 6 years blown from injuries.
He tweaked his knee a Teahupo on his title year.
Ripped all the tendons off his ankle first full year on tour.

Its the vegan diet I tells ya....
No protein for recovery........

Pity such a good surfer but will never be what he could have been competitively now, just to injury prone like some AFL players.

My mcl recovery. They say mcl heals well but until it does you have doubts.

Sideways instability and sense of fragility for about 6 weeks. Rolling over in bed could cause major pain.

Surfing carefully was okay but wipeouts were scary cause you can't control sideways forces.

After 6 weeks felt pretty good but could still sense the fragility.

Second six weeks was when real imorovement towards normal began.

Time is part of it but squats helped a lot. Built strength but forced the leg to do full range of motion and start its own mysterious healing - break up scar tissue maybe?

Protect at first but don't over protect longer term.

Now feels goods. But I don't surf big pipe, do airs, do the tour or live in Hawaii.

John John should recover well but needs to get his bro as his PT and build super strong legs.

Even so, the ligaments do a lot of work - the muscles don't just lock everything down. So you have to hope the body heals the ligament well. That varies from person to person.

Some forums mention problems that persist for years.

Hope JJ is one that heals well.

How much longer for JJF? He'll give next year another crack and call it a day I reckon. Seems detached from the tour this year even when competing. If he isn't going to win the title, surfing with his family and sailing will be a bigger pull. The world is his oyster, I can't see injuries and a top 5 finish appealing to him for much longer.