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Good timing, yes haha.
So yeah, how you feeling, are you, excited, nervous? What are your emotions like right now?
Yeah. Pretty neutral at the moment actually, but definitely excited. I know I’ll get nervous as it gets a bit closer, and I’ve had a couple surfs and the heat draw comes out and everything. But right now, I’m pretty keen to get over there and get some waves.
Do you enjoy being on the CT? Because it puts you closer to surfers like John John and Gabe who are pushing your surfing to another level?
Yeah, definitely. I think, you know, I don’t think I’d be anywhere near the surfer that I am today if I wasn’t competing and didn’t get regular chances to just surf with those guys a lot, let alone compete against them. And like obviously competing is a lot different. You got to focus it all into a 30-minute window and try and do the best you can with what you got in that time period. But I guess just you know, watching what they do and how good they are and wanting to be able to compete with them and beat them, you kind of start pushing yourself outside a lot in the free surfing side of things so that when you get in that 30-minute heat, you know you’ve got what it takes. Yeah, I definitely love the competition side of it. And just, you know, being in that top echelon is something I’m very honoured to be a part of, and hopefully I can keep pushing.
I’m sure it would have been tough when you copped the MYC. And then you had to grind back on the Challenger Series. How was that period for you?
Yeah, not ideal haha. Yeah, obviously, everyone thought they were just gonna be sweet for the MYC haha. No one was thinking much about it till it came around. But yeah, I mean, falling off, obviously, it’s pretty heartbreaking it’s something you know, that when competing and you put a lot of emphasis on winning and being the best and when you do get kind of knocked back, it’s a bit of a blow to the ego or, you know, you just wonder if you’re good enough and all that kind of stuff. But I was injured for a couple of events and so that kind of put me on the back foot for the get go but definitely freed me up a bit of time to focus on you know, free surfing and doing some more trips and working on my surfing to get back on but it ended up being quite a good year, and I ended up having a lot of fun.
What’s the ethos behind the new project, ‘Beneath The Pear Tree’, and what’s the name all about?
I guess I kind of film a lot when I’m home with Jack and we kind of end up getting a bunch of clips and then you know, decide to put something together once we’ve kind of bagged a bunch of stuff. And I guess we kind of got a lot pretty early. And then I got a bit excited and decided to start taking him to a few places like Portugal and Hawaii. Just to get a little bit of different stuff. Because normally we just film around home a lot, which is pretty cool. But yeah it ended up being, a really good year of surfing and waves, and just a good year in general.
The name actually came from when I got married in October, and it was between some Pear Trees. So it was Jack’s idea, which was very nice of him. But to kind of tie that in you know I had a fantastic year, and to be able to put that in and not be just surfing. To be able to tie it in in some way was pretty special to me.
How’s married life treating ya?
HA, yeah it’s pretty similar but it’s good, I’m enjoying it.
How do you strive to find a point of difference with your free surfing edits?
Yeah, I mean, it’s pretty hard. But I guess I just like to kind of let my surfing do the talking in a way. I feel like you know, I love competing, I love free-surfing and if I can kind of mould those two into making me the best surfer I can be. You know, competing, you kind of need to complete waves and put whole waves together and free surfing is about doing something as crazy as you can. So you know, trying to mould the two and do the craziest thing and different combos. And I guess I’m just trying to surf my best and have fun and then push myself too. I think there was like some of the biggest waves I’ve surfed in Australia in this clip. And that was a cool challenge for me to chase those swells and those bommies and make it a bit different in that way at some big slabs.
Were those big left handers on the South coast, the secret break everyone was hyping on last year? How’d you hear about that wave, and have you been there before?
I’ve been there but I haven’t ever surfed it. It’s just never been big enough or never really had that kind of swell and hasn’t been right. But yeah, a good friend of mine, Mick Lowe. He’s obviously pretty well known down there and knows where to go. So, he was pointing me in the right direction. And yeah, definitely was a place to tick off and stoked I got to surf there.
Is the South Coast a haven for you to get some proper surfing hours in?
I mean, the waves are just unbelievable. The consistency and the variety. Crazy. So in Newcastle, we definitely get a lot of waves but not that good really haha. So, yeah, if I get a chance, or I see a swell and I can shoot up and down the coast, it definitely gets me excited. I think in the end that’s kind of the essence of surfing, doing, you know, strike missions or surf trips with your mates. Normally a couple of us jump in and we all surf together and have a great time and if we get clips, it’s a bonus.
So anything you’re doing differently when approaching the 2023 season and any goals?
There’s like nothing crazy, I’m changing. I’m trying not to like put so much emphasis on each event. I just kind of want to try and do my best surfing and you know, not get too hyped and emotional about heat winning and losing and just, you know, maybe keep a bit more of an even keel and just a bit more focus. And yeah, I’d love to try and crack the top 10 this year, it’s a huge goal of mine, obviously just got to make the cut first but hopefully I can get a few big results which can put me up in the top end and then just focus on tracking that top 10. The back end of the year seems to like, you know, probably be the five better stops that come after the cut. So hopefully if I can just hang around for that and really surf some good waves.
Are there any other competitors than the big names that your kind of keeping an eye on this year and expect a big 2023 from?
I mean, I feel like Griffin’s just going from strength to strength, Ethan as well. Those two guys seem to be pushing harder than anyone at the moment. Jack Robbo too. You know they were all somewhat prodigies. They’re all kind of coming into fruition and just showing what they can do and there could be a potential changing of the guard (maybe not). I feel like Gabe, John and Filipe still have plenty more in the tank and they’re obviously the guys to watch, but I think it’ll be an exciting year. There’s a few new faces that are coming back on. Joao Chianca’s being ripping.
Myself and Leo obviously fell off and are back on there too. And I feel like after going back on the Challenger, we’ve been really determined to get back on… trying really hard and staying quite focused, where I’m not sure how it was after the cut on the CT. It seemed a lot more relaxed and I’m wondering if those guys maybe took the foot off the gas a little bit and maybe relaxed too much, but I guess we’ll see who comes to Pipe.
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Make sure you check out Ryan’s latest edit ‘Beneath the Pear Trees’ where Ryan’s freesurfing wizardry is undeniable. If he can transfer this level of surfing into competition, he undoubtedly has what it takes to be in the top 10.
