The last time the circus rolled into Plengkung Beach was a long time ago. To put things into perspective. Kelly had hair. Luke Egan won. Told ya – a Long time ago!
Expectations ran sky-high, and nostalgia toppled even the hardest of romantics as the top of the Cream Tour returned to G-Land 25 years after now-in-the-booth Luke Egan beat Chris Gallagher in six-foot Speedies.
The WSL brought in heavy hitters for the comeback. Tom Caroll joined Indonesian royalty Rizal Tandjung for cameo appearances behind the mics on Day one. The stage was propped and prepped for the glorious return of the champ coming out of mini-retirement. Heck, even Strider seemed to have gotten a haircut for the occasion.
But with most sequels, they never quite live up to the hype. As day one concluded, the ocean went quiet, turning the comeback tour into jungle fever.
Scrambling for anything newsworthy happening over on the Indonesian Archipelago, we returned to our cubicles combing through our digital archives to find stories, people or treasures remotely related to the wild lefts at G-Land. Partially given up on the former, suffering from severe tunnel vision and perhaps an undiagnosed hint of ADHD playing “I’ve been to Bali too” for the 27th time, the mid-event jungle bender came to the rescue!
Dimy turned tables, Gabby shimmied, Renato shoeyed, and the assembly as a collective broke stages as they made the most of the lack of action in the water. It’s hard to come back from the greatest night of the League since Chris Ward making out with the bushes at Bell’s Beach, but the show must go on!
On the sixth day of competition, the posse returned sans Tyler Wright, who entered the Rona protocol instead of Banyuwangi pits. One might just wonder if it had anything to do with the bear hugs going down at the super soirée Monday night?!
Unfortunately, G-Land is a wrap for Tyler, who gifted fellow Aussie Bronte Mac a walkthrough straight into the Quarters. Nevertheless, the women still threw down plenty of action on a quicky of a day of competition by WSL standards. In Heat 2 of the Elimination Round, French hopeful Johanne Defay took out Courtney Conlogue with a pair of midrange scores and never-before-seen claims for a place in the Quarters.
With only four Heats surfed today, the following statement might be too premature, but Johanne looks like an early favourite to take out the whole damn thing. If today was any indication, Johanne’s backhand is on point, especially if waves stay around the shoulder to head high range, resembling more of a mirrored Snapper point than an Indo reef.
Waves were slow. Lulls were plenty, and Sally Fitz appeared to have found the right balance between attack and caution in her Heat against Issy Nichols. Make no mistake. It was a pretty slow affair, but it’s good to see Sally finding her mojo after a rather lacklustre first half of the year. A lot has been said about the WSL awarding her a Wildcard for G-Land after bailing out post Margaret River, but her 14 years on tour should count for something, and a win in Indo might just silence (some) of the whiners.
In the last (official) Heat of the day, Lakey P squeezed past Rookie of the Year Gabriela Bryan for the last seat at the Quarterfinal table. Gabby coulda, shoulda had this one, but a crucial priority mistake cost her a back to back appearance on finals day. Rookie life ain’t no easy walk in the park. Nevertheless, the Hawaiian is a refreshing new face on tour with her no-nonsense approach and one of the most stylish body torque in surfing (both men and women).
Rissa and Toledo took out the supersession thrown by Quiksilver, winning old, nostalgic boards no airline carrier will take on board due to weight and length, but hey, it’s all for the fans!
