Julian Wilson To Take Another Swing At The CT
Yesterday, Julian Wilson threw his hat back in the ring, announcing on Instagram that he was coming out of retirement.
Age aside - Wilson turns 36 in November - the move isn't much of a surprise. At least when you look at the terms he went out on.
In ten years on the Championship Tour, Wilson was only outside the top 10 three times. Yet two of those were his last years competing - 2019 and 2021.
If you'll recall, 2020 was cancelled and 2021 was an abridged tour of cobbled-together contests due to the COVID virus. Wilson had just married and started a young family, and if international travel was difficult as a single professional athlete it was impossible with a family.
In June 2021 he withdrew from the Surf Ranch Pro then the next month announced he was taking a break:
"I would like to take this time to let you all know I'm taking a break indefinitely from the WSL world tour for my own well-being and that of my family," Wilson said on Instagram.
"By no means am I calling it a retirement from professional surfing and the decision I have made is in line with what I value most in my life and that is my family," he continued. "The inability to travel internationally with them now and for the foreseeable future is enough for me to take a step back and be there for my wife and children."
For the last three years, Wilson has led a quiet life, working on his brand Rivvia Projects, raising his two kids, plus the odd low-key surf trip. That's all about to change with yesterday's announcement. As per Instagram:
"This time three years ago I was sitting in a hotel quarantine room in the aftermath of my Tokyo Olympic campaign, watching my dream as a WT surfer fade away while heading home to be the best partner and Dad that could be during a very challenging time (mentally)."
"I don’t regret my decision for a second and I love my wife and family to bits. Nothing in life compares to a healthy relationship at home and the opportunity to raise a family.
"The past 6 months I’ve had competing firmly at the forefront of my mind. It’s time for me to give it another crack. My hope is to get a WSL wildcard for the 2025 challenger series.
"With the support of the sponsors that have stuck by me JS, FCS, sunbum and the exciting prospect of pushing for big results with my own brand Rivvia Projects at the nose of my board I’m looking forward to the challenge.
"I’ll be in it for the fun of the challenge and the healthy lifestyle surfing is. I love surfing and I’m still too damn competitive at heart to not give it another shot."
Notably, Wilson mentions qualifying through the Challenger Series rather than gaining CT admission via the season wildcard - though that route is possible now Kelly Slater has retired and by using the 'past success' clause.
Comments
Great to see him back, like Mick he's still as good as any of them. Hard yakka to go through the Changa though. Hope he gets some tasty wildcards, there are plenty of less deserving surfers who have
Be interesting if they give him one. Should be able to qualify through the regionals I would've thought anyway.
Challenger a tough nut to crack though. Just ask Morgs, Kolohe, Callum, Jacko, Joel V and Mateus Herdy
He's definitely got more to give at CT level.
But yeah, seem him in a few Changa comps last couple of years and he was extremely uncompetitive against young CS grinders in shitty surf.
Hope he gets a CT wildcard. Should definitely be in the Snapper draw.
Would prefer to see him just get a wildcard to the Snapper event as a past winner.
Hard to see him re-qualifying via the Challenger series.
Give him the Mikey Wright year on tour wildcard,
From memory Mikey got one wildcard, did really well so got another one, and racked up enough points to qualify for the next year. Unfortunately, I don't think wildcards get points anymore, but I could be wrong.
He also had a wildcard surf-off with Caio (?) for a year on tour the following year which he lost. He would have to have the weirdest CT career in history.
Leo.
Ah yep
Shoe horn Wright family legacy tour marketing angle
Anything to sell this stuff to the mainstream ....selling surf to the mainstream must be one of the hardest jobs on earth .....
Good on ya Joycey.
What was his ranking last year on tour ?
Equal 20th, so he qualified yet voluntarily walked away.
Geeze back on tour at 38 ...
Don't think the body will hold up to the travel.........
At some point you just have to call it.
Rust starts appearing on your joints
A wheel falls off.
I just don't get it ?
Give him a wildcard to both tours
Thanks stu !
I thought the timing was around the same time Hurley dropped him.
Him leaving the tour may have been more of a financial issue than a family one.
Good to see him back having a crack though
Dude was averaging $160k per year in prizemoney ($430k alone in 2018) and Hurley paid him $1.5m a year for 6 years.... plus he had other endorsements. He was doing just fine financially I reckon.
The family related explanation makes perfect sense to me, even if you don't take into consideration the additional factors contributing at that point in time i.e. covid.
Id say a combination of Factors to be honest
Finance ($160k pre tax earnings isnt enough to keep the family afloat AND travel the world competing - he would be burning cash to stay on tour)
COVID
Family
There's usually not ONE single factor in these decisions.
Did you miss the bit about $1.5m a year from Hurley? I mean sure, he wasn't getting that anymore.... but he surely would have banked a fair bit of that $9m over the previous 6 years. More than most people earn in their lifetimes....
Exactly. I mean yeah some of the guys wouldn’t be the most financially savvy but I’m sure the top guys from a young age would be given a lot of guidance on what to do with their money - especially through that era they made considerably more than they are now
It’s a long time since he competed and he was outside the top ten in 2019. Might be better off doing the competitive fun circuit. Padang Padang. The quicksilver Jeremy Flores one in France. The Wsl one at JBay they just had and there is a tropical one parko did last year and carissa is doing this year.
Or if it’s really just about competing he could do the Qualifying events in indo like Josh Kerr just did. Trying to get through the changas will be tough
Recall he said he wasn't retiring from Pro Surfing...more of an extended break.
https://www.nine.com.au/sport/julian-wilson-reveals-why-hes-taking-a-bre...
#1swellnet recently reported WSL reintroducing 2x CT Longhaulers ~ Superbank + Salty Ranch
2018 JW is still the Long Term Bank Manager (Tick!) 2019 D'bah > CS (Correct!)
Recall he won that flying blind with zero sleep > White-lining as Sunny-Goldie Supadad!
Ranch Wave Handler : 2018 # 6 (Tick!) + 2019 #5 (Tick!)
2014 Pipemaster / 2017 Teahupoo King / 2014 Triple Crown (Tick! Tick! & A Massive Big Tick!)
2020 Last Comeback Special : Newcastle QS > wiped 143 WSL Global Gromz off the map
Reckon JW qualifies as an Official Power Mad Long Hauler...
Just deal him his bloody stupid wildcard thingy & try not to draw him when he's on heat!
Want some Advice
Champs must never loop their big day leis anywhere near these Forever Bridesmaid Gromz
Ain't no CS padded cell gonna stop their demented quest for the Holy Grail.
Why clip their wings...Let'em fly around with their head in the clouds.
So they prove all us experts wrong & gobble from the goblet! Glug Glug Drool! Mine Precious!
Wot...this new breed gonna stop these Forever Grom Autobots...just kiddin' themselves!
Reminding Sally just wiped 113 + JW just wiped 143 (Both can devour twice as much easily...Burp!)
Can't touch this...Just mind wot ya say & keep outta the Bridesmaid's way...they'll eat us all alive.
Oh the Humanity!
PS : Both these Pros know a thing or two about Shiftin' Shifty Sheds.
WOTD #~~~~^~~~~/\~~~~/|~~~~/(~~~~/C~~~~/(C' [brides).../|(C`[maids)
You've really excelled yourself this time, tbb.
However it shakes out it just adds another nice little layer of intrigue for us to enjoy and opine about.
10 years ago , in print
Not in 2024...
Deffo.
tbh, I'd much rather see Julian do a Soli Bailey or Nathan Florence and put out clips of himself surfing insane waves. Develop and showcase that surfing talent to it's fullest.
I hope he has the mental fortitude to go max grovel on the changa.
Does he really have anything left to prove competitively?
That's what's so fascinating hey. Could you make yourself any more vulnerable than by taking a mortgage out on your legacy like this? Turns out he really is a competitor.
100%
I love it.
Please don't Julian.
Jules technicality, particularly in the air, was massively under appreciated by the judges.
Question is, are Australia's very best a level above him or not.
I reckon he's still got qualities to his surfing that sit him alongside them so may as well go for it. A world title has a nice ring to it if looking for motivation for unfinished business.
Give it to em Joycey!
Jack and Ethan, possibly.
But that is all immaterial because he has to get through the meat grinder of the Changa, and quickly.
He doesn't have years to waste getting stuck there.
Kolohe similar position to Jules.
Aging with a young family.
Can’t get through the changa.
True. Has jules got the huntington hop still lurking in his muscle memory against a Matteus Herdy and the like? Cruel road ahead.
roast chicken is 1h 20 mins for a meduim size chook yes...
Saw him surfing on a classic 6-8ft day here recently...he was toying with it...driving no hands in massive backhand pits...world class.
Not sure if the Changa is going to replicate those conditions.
All the best to him.
Rather see JW back on Tour than a whole bunch of the retreads currently in the top 10 of the Changa.
My point exactly Steve. Jaddy hung around forever via re-qualification. Give me JW any day over some of the perennial also-rans
Misread ‘retreads’ on first glance… thought, sheesh that’s a bit harsh… and not PC at all
Turns out it’s just me.
yes! hope he does it (makes it through to the CT). i'd love to see him back. super powerful and stylish. his type of surfing would've done very well this last couple of years with the seeming change in judging criteria.
truebluebasher, are you a Hunter S Thompson fan? If you haven't already,read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I have trouble at times following your posts but i like em!
I didn't tell the Samoan about the bats. He would see them soon enough.
Familiarity precedes expectation. His name will stick out like the proverbial through otherwise monotonous changa comp rounds. If he even remotely delivers on expectations during his highly anticipated appearances I predict he will get juiced over no-names, subconscious sentimentality and our love of a come-back being what it is.
Not to say that he cannot make it on his own steam, just saying all things being equal I don't think he will necessarily need to surf materially better than a 100 other journeyman to advance,
Not without precedent of course. While he lost the magic in recent years, most would agree Kelly won oodles of close heats on reputation both during and after his prime.
Good luck JW. Still very courageous however it plays out.
Thanx to Ding OZ + gnomen for liking something or anything tbb shares.
Crew are too kind and know tbb struggles to both read and write.
tbb is first and foremost a fan of #1swellnet writers including the crew!
I did check up on Hunter S Thompson and understand why ya pointed tbb in that direction. Thanx!
tbb has a few Papers in Local Studies Libraries and voted most likely to drum up youth culture.
Recall when last visiting! Have you got yer Manifesto! (My....!)
No sooner ask >>> why ya researching in this section tbb...that's not your Punk era! (WTF!)
Thanks for asking if tbb is a fan of the dude...good chance tbb is...happy to check back on that!
Coz when you asked > tbb thought about an ode or scripture.
Here's how tbb works...everything has gotta be organic...if something falls from the Sky then Why!
For some reason this prose blew in on the breeze...(With no particular foremost association!)
Like why it do that...it's not well known to tbb why push itself ahead of a million more deserving.
But the heart knows what it wants...
As of now can only share that tbb is or was meant to share this track...for whatever organic reason.
Weirdly was a closet fan of the addictive percussion like groove & soothing backing singers!
Here's the thing...most of us in Oz only recall The Lush Bryan Ferry Cover LP as tbb does.
tbb was only 13... so any ultra hip lyrical trickery flew over tbb's head apart from descriptive verse.
So...guess it's meant to be some weird signature dedication to the crew or JW.
Sharing how this weird shit picks tbb & now fully committed > gotta run with it!
So what's so organic about this track.
Ok! tbb stripped back the cool gloss to the Original & the Lyrical Verse is more potent to a child.
Yes! tbb was singing along as child knowing 50 years later he would be called upon to share the Vibe!
You can't help but hear it is surprisingly anarchic & very dark + comes across pretty deep!
Too deep for a kid but the hook banks it and shapes yer future mind...that is hypnobeat right there!
So buried deep within tbb from near 50 years back this song decides to speak on behalf of tbb in 2024.
Ok! So this song is gonna sum up tbb's writing style & not gonna fight it...100% organic as promised!
tbb was hypnotized as a minor by this song and is now a huge fan of the song!
Reckon you'll all be equally tranquilized by this tune & hypnotized by the lyrics.
Hits ya like Cupids Arrow! Twang...just hooked another...mesmerized!
1976 Heart on my Sleeve by Scottish Duo Benny Gallagher / Graham Lyle
Covered by huge Stars 1976 *Bryan Ferry +Bruce Miller 1978 Ringo 1996 Judith Durham
Then that's it...disappears off the Radar...
Epic Empathetic Song Lyrics just screaming for a 2024 Perfectly Empathetic Reboot
A fitting tribute to tbb's heartfelt intent & equally a dedication to Crew & Comeback kids
Picks itself it did...just blow off the dust & give it a spin...how easy are these time capsule trax!
Is tbb happy with this being his signature song...fine to live with that until tbb changes his tune!
Massive fan of these Lyrics & would be stoked to write a song that good...like who wouldn't!
I wear my heart on my sleeve
I'm not afraid to say what I mean
Mean what I say
I set myself up, let myself down
I may be a fool to spread it around
But I... just wanna let you know,
Sometimes I ...find it so hard not to show,
So I sigh... and I let my feelings go.
TB, haven't heard that in yonks. Such a lovely track.
wish him all the best but age doesn't weigh in his favour.. Might be better off going free surfer, boutique board brand or self branded, tied in with Rivvia, way less stress, WSL is a zoo and the young lions are way hungrier.. 2c
10 points from me.
Lost his rail a bit during that cutty.
Have to agree- high 9's, got a little squirrelly off the bottom there.
Sick turn though.
Harsh.
Fucken oath.
That was mental.
Really slick