The UK’s Daily Mirror, a widely read tabloid, has turned on Mick Fanning in an article titled: ‘Did you get any waves where you didn’t burn someone? Greedy pig’: Furious locals accuse pro surfer Mick Fanning of stealing their waves at famous break Snapper Rocks’.

The article which was published on March 8, just days before the first event of the WSL season, singles out the 3x world champion for dropping in on locals during the much-publicised Cyclone Winston swell at the Superbank.

Here’s an extract from said piece:

“Locals from Tweed Heads took to social media to call out the surfing pro: They say the three-time world champ is ‘greedy’ and ‘disrespectful’: Many took issue with Fanning for tucking into a 24-second barrel this year: To do so he forced a younger surfer who was on the wave first to wipe out.”

Now while it may have been a slow news day in the UK, reporting about a pro surfer dropping in on an average Joe in The Land Down Under is hardly a big story. If you’ve ever put yourself through the mental battlefield of surfing crowded Snapper then chances are you’ve either been on the receiving end of a burning or delivered one. There’s little doubt that the traditional lineup rules are somewhat skewed at Snapper. Perhaps the greatest crime when it’s pumping is to see a good wave wasted and the surfers (pro and punter alike) are constantly trying to evaluate another surfer’s chance of the making a wave. However, the reactions from punters were scathing when it came to Fanning.

“Hilarious, everyone’s got so much respect and admiration for Mick, yet he’s out there burning and disrespecting locals on a regular basis.”

“I get that he’s a local and they should get there (sic) fill, but for someone that surfs the best waves on the planet all year round, it’s a bit greedy.”

“I think surfer mags and sites should boycott any clips where pros snake the average Joe to get the shot.”

Hold up a second. Should surf media blanket ban pros that drop in on locals? That would starve us of content and mean that you, the reader, would lose out. So should we throw stones at Mick or just take a chill pill and accept it as a natural hazard of surfing one of the most crowded spots in the world?