Jordy’s post-heat dig at the judges after John John floated to victory in their controversial quarterfinal was indisputably more dramatic than the wave-starved heat. With saltwater still steaming out his ears, Jordy was promptly hurled before a purring Rosy Hodge and asked about his initial reaction to the result. ‘Overscored on his last wave,’ growled Jordy, like a lion that had just had its prey snatched away by a band of judging hyenas.
Jordy’s candid disgruntlement quickly supplied the stimulus for loaded social media banter, but it wasn’t however the first live stoush at J-Bay.
Those who watched round four will remember Kelly throwing barbs at Ronnie Blakey in the commentary box during his post heat interview – again it was the WSL’s resident femme fatale Rosy Hodge playing her part deftly.
Full of pluck and confidence as he spoke to Rosy after defeating Michel Bourez and Alejo Muniz, Kelly jibed, “… Trying to make Kelly great again – Ronnie doesn’t think that I can surf on the face of a wave, so I got to figure something out …”. The unexpected verbal grenade drew a loud chuckle from Ronnie, meanwhile Rosy stayed on her game and gently teased out the rift between the biggest name in surfing and the golden boy of the commentary box. “It sounds like you’ve been paying a lot of attention to the webcast?” suggested Rosy, prompting Kelly to bite hard on the bait.
“OH yeah well, I mean he (Ronnie) says it every contest. Come on give me a break here man. I didn’t forget how to surf. ”
There were laughs all round but one sensed that beneath the warm chuckles, a glacier of tension lurked.
“He only hears the critique, he doesn’t hear the accolades. What about the froth levels during Fiji, Kelly? Responded Ronnie defensively, before throwing in a line that might have been interpreted as a back-hand compliment to the sensitive Slater. “Definitely good to see Kelly getting through some heats with manoeuvres alone.”
Check the 4min 50 sec’ mark on the clip below.
Ronnie continued to point out that, “Kelly doesn’t miss anything,” reaffirming Slater’s reputation amongst journalists and industry players for omniscience when it comes to being aware of all things said about him in media circles.
Industry insiders have suggested that it’s not the first time Kelly has called Ronnie out on his commentary. Ronnie’s double life as Mick Fanning’s manger probably also helps to fuel Kelly’s paranoia, given the rivalry between Mick and Kelly over the years.
The question is, are such public feuds between surfers and other surfers, surfers and judges and surfers and commentators good for the WSL?
Watch the webcasts regularly and you will probably see that there is a hint of WWF wrestling in the WSL’s surfing coverage. In the same way that the phoney wrestling organisation talks up tensions between its cast of rope-jumping faux-fighters, the WSL is inclined to bring attention to some of its own real life rivalries. The handling of Gabriel Medina’s live swearing incident after a controversial heat with Micro Hall at the Quiksilver Pro in 2015 comes to mind. When Medina was wheeled out to explain himself to a live audience it seemed less about taking disciplinary action than it did about securing ratings.
Without going in to the details of the WSL’s financial standing, it’s probably safe to say they need all the webcast numbers they can get. It’s also probably fair to say that as fans we want some of the behind the scenes dramas explored. At its best sport is a form of theatre, full of interesting characters and plot developments as well as feats of human excellence.
The heat between John John and Jordy demonstrated that sometimes the performers have to ad-lib without a worthy aquatic stage. At such moments it’s undeniably the sideline antics that keep us watching. Bring on the drama.
