Kelly And Mick ‘KO The Wildcards

Mick The Merciless And Not So Great Dane

Mick Fanning cares not for those groupies who go all gooey at the mention of Dane Reynolds. Fanning in a singlet is a ruthless gladiator who whips, slashes and cuts at the opposition without discrimination. In one foot Snapper, Dane was fighting unarmed against someone with a pair of samurai swords. There were no crumbly-lip wedges with enough power for Dane to unleash one of his inverted front-side hacks and no cross-shore-licked faces facilitating a launch above the distant Surfers Paradise skyline. Meanwhile Mick was equipped with a highly polished rail game and seamless transition in turns.

Mick the merciless did the damage early, clocking up a 15.50 heat total, well within the first half of the heat. Post-heat he suggested it was a tactic because he knew the incoming tide was only likely to make the waves chubbier, meanwhile it was 27 mins before a not so Great Dane even threw the fins. Mick later explained his reason for going straight to the little Mali section, well down the line from the conventional take-off zone behind or on the rock at Snapper. “I knew Dane would probably sit down there and I didn’t really want to leave him alone.” This was Fanning in classic control mode. Taking every possible precaution to ensure he could dictate the course of events.

Mick and Dane leave the water all smiles.

As Snapper dribbled behind him, Mick was grilled about the decision not to move the contest to D’bah at any point in the last nine days. Mick responded by pointing to the fact that even in the brave new world of advanced forecasting technology, there is still an element of roulette in any competition call. “When we made the call not to go to D’bah the forecast for here was looking pretty good, but then the swell pushed out a bit,” he stated with a shrug. There is plenty of talk online and around the contest about what should have been done but it’s all irrelevant 20/20 hindsight when it comes to winning the event now. Despite the back-door progression to round three, Fanning’s form

is unquestionably rock-solid. Mick can almost be guaranteed to lay down a minimum fifteen point heat total and defeating him will require something at least, a little bit special. When asked about who he fears, Mick was refreshingly honest. “If it stays small I hope I’m not anywhere near Felipe Toledo in the draw.”

As for Dane Reynolds it was torturous to watch the virtuoso performer travel so far to suffer the indignity of defeat in one foot Snapper. The WSL may have played their joker card too early and there will now be serious questions about whether or not we will ever see Dane in a WCT singlet again. “I’d be up for another contest but I’m not sure they’ll give me another shot at it after that performance,” stated Dane, desperately trying to make light of his disastrous 2015 Quiksilver Pro. When Tracks quizzed him directly about whether or not heats like the one he’d just had further turned him off competition, there was a noticeable shudder from Dane. Fundamentally a sensitive guy, he doesn’t want to embarrass himself or tarnish his image in front of hundreds of thousands of online viewers. “It’s definitely discouraging,” he conceded. “I might do another contest but maybe I’d want to look at the forecast next time,” he said sheepishly.

It seems like the WSL’s dream of coaxing Dane towards qualification with their rule change that makes wildcard results count, is less and less likely of becoming a reality. They might only get one more shot at playing the Dane card. If there is a next time we can only hope it comes off.

Kelly wets his rail during his win over Wildcard Jack Freestone in the meager conditions on offer. Photo: WSL/Cestari

By Alex Workman

For the past twelve months Jack Freestone has been on an absolute tear. His part in Kai Neville’s Cluster, arguably stole the show and he has quietly gone about posting results in competition that, as a pro junior world champ, he seemed destined to always do. 2015 is Jack’s opportunity to go full tilt and qualify for the big show and prove that he is more than just a freesurfer. If he does he could be up there with the Julian’s and Jordy’s. If he doesn’t, in a few years he may well fade into mediocrity wondering what might have been.

After Kelly came in from his freesurf this morning the beach was eerily quiet. No security, no hysterical fans, just a few frothed out grommets looking for a selfie with R-Kelly. Much less attention has been paid to the 11x world champ this year and it’s a wonder why. The question of retirement didn’t even register a bleep on anyone’s lips after his Pipe Masters loss in Hawaii. No matter how cryptic you want to get the number one is still on the back of his jersey – twice.

The vibes on the beach were all about Kelly.

Not even the shimmering blue water could disguise the pocket-sized conditions as round 2 continued to roll on. As Kelly stroked into his first wave, holding off Jack with priority, he sambaed down the line, somehow finding the open face as he slid the tail before attacking the lip vertically, smoother than warm butter spread on bread, to lock in a 7.33.

Kelly used to beat his competitors just by showing up. But he is just as deadly when he starves them of waves, pressing them by posting a couple of quick scores. Under priority he would have sent a pang of anxiety through Jack as he rode over the wrinkles of a small insider, clobbering it with a series of slashing cutbacks before finishing with a casual reverse, essentially zeroing out the heat as Jack was left combo’d.

But it wasn’t all one-way traffic. Jack found his gear towards the end of the heat, dropping a 4.43 hinting at what he can do. With 45 seconds remaining Kelly let Jack go on a foamy one that wedged off the point. Setting up the wave with a few lateral turns he sped into a reverse, blowing the fins with the type of flair we’ve come to expect dropping a respectable a 6.20.

Kelly’s epoxy weapon of choice.

For Freestone defeating Kelly Slater on the big stage would have provided a big boost of confidence. “If you’ve seen highlight reels of Jack Freestone you know not to take him lightly,” said Kelly in the post heat wash up. “I watched his first heat pretty intently and I felt like if we went to the carve game then I had an advantage but if we went to the air game then he had an advantage.” Hopefully this isn’t the last we’ll see of young Jack mixing it up with the world’s best.

Kelly told Tracks he believes with today’s conditions the judges will be rewarding the guys that put it on rail. “I think it’s just going to be about speed and power turns. It’s going to get flatter on the high tide but then this afternoon it’s going to get a bit bigger on the low so there’s going to be some good surfing before dark.”

Stay tuned for a 1pm call (Qld time).

Watch the Quiksilver Pro Live Here

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Round 2 Match-Ups:

Heat 5: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Ricardo Christie (NZL)

Heat 6: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Brett Simpson (USA)

Heat 7: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Jeremy Flores (FRA)

Heat 8: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Keanu Asing (HAW)

Heat 9: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Italo Ferreira (BRA)

Heat 10: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)

Heat 11: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Wiggolly Dantas (BRA)

Heat 12: Miguel Pupo (BRA) vs. Jadson Andre (BRA)

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Round 2 Results:

Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.50 Def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 9.43

Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 13.33 Def. Jack Freestone (AUS) 10.63

Heat 3: Glenn Hall (IRL) 12.77 Def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.67

Heat 4: Adriano de Souza 13.83 Def. CJ Hobgood (USA) 11.00

Watch all the Heats on Demand here.