For all its epic waves and exotic locations, the world tour must still take a toll. Especially if you’ve been on it a long time, and even more so if you’ve been duking it out at the top. After more than a dozen years competing at the highest level, and following a tumultuous 2015, Mick Fanning is the latest world champ (following Kelly and Andy) to hand in his leave forms and take a hiatus. Which is completely understandable, the guy has earned it through tireless dedication and hard work, but it does leave you wondering which of our boys are willing to pick up the slack and take it to the rest of the world in 2016.
Julian’s our most obvious charge. With three finals appearances at three very different breaks in 2015, he showed not only his newly-developed heat smarts, but his versatility, which is essential to any title campaign. He’s also one of the most progressive surfers on tour, and backs it up with style, power, and arguably the best forehand bottom-turn around. It’s no secret that a world title is in his sights either, and one gets the sense that he’s been gleaning as much as he can from Mick throughout the course of their now legendary friendship. If he can keep a cool head and shake off the tough losses (which hasn’t been his strongpoint so far), there’s no reason why Jules can’t find himself with more than just an outside chance come Pipe.
Joel and Taj might not be the youngest guys on tour anymore, but they’ve been there before, and that stands for a lot. Neither of them had the greatest year in 2015 either, so they’ll be looking to reassert some authority over the younger generation when conditions allow. With both of them being family men now, and Parko at least having fulfilled his world title aspirations, it’ll be interesting to see if they still have the desire to stage full-scale assaults, or if their performances will become more sporadic as they head towards retirement. In any case, if the tour enjoys a run of quality waves, it’s hard to imagine them not wanting to recapture that winning feeling and put themselves in the type of positions they’ve both become very familiar with throughout their careers.
Of the rest of the Aussie contingent, the two Matts could be the big movers and shakers this year. Matty Wilko, the renowned party boy with the big swinging backhand, seems to have come to 2016 with a newfound sense of focus and maturity. His recent victory at the Newcastle QS (his first in a long time) is a positive sign, as is his decision to employ fellow Central Coaster Micro Hall as his full-time coach. In the past Wilko’s appeared to suffer from a lack of confidence against the big names, and his heat strategies haven’t always looked the most cohesive, but taking into account these recent developments, don’t be surprised to see him apply the kind of momentum that runs through his backhand to the rest of the tour. Likewise, expect big things from Matty Banting. After suffering a season-ending injury in his rookie year, the stylish natural-footer from Port Macquarie will be looking to make up for it this time around. He’s made no attempt to hide his hunger for the top spot (Alex, you could put a link to Luke’s interview with Matty here), and although we didn’t see a lot of him last year, if his opening round win over Mick Fanning at the Quikky Pro was anything to go by, the kid has the ticker to take it to the big dogs.
Of course, besides this lot there’s some dangerous rookies and seasoned vets who could also do their share of damage. But regardless of who emerges as our best bet, they’ll need to learn what Mick knows too well—that winning a world title is a gruelling ordeal, and without hard work there’ll be no reward.
