Torn Between Two Lovers

“It’s tough to split them. I see both sides of the story,” says Beau, when ASL catches up with him at Billabong HQ in Burleigh. “It’s great to see Mick with his comeback and to see Joel trying to win his first. I know if it gets to the final Mick wins, but I’d really like to see it go down to the final, head to head.”


Mick, having a play in his backyard. Pic Shield

As much as certain sections of the surf media like to try and manufacture some sort of magazine-selling hostility around the title race, Beau reckons the pair have it in perspective.

“Those two have it under control. Those two have really got a handle on it,” he says. “They’re always competitive with each other, even if we’re just sitting around having a beer. They know their place. In the end, they’re really good mates. But they’re both competitors at heart and you can’t take that out of them. That’s how they got where they are ... There’s no bad blood between them. I think they’ve only met up once this year so they haven’t really been competing against each other. It’s the media putting them against each other head to head.”

Most importantly, though, who would have the better world title party? “Probably Mick. Joel’s very much a family man now,” says Beau. “Even after Bells when he’d had a couple of wins, he had a barbie and a few beers round his place and (their film-maker mate) Shagga’s said, imagine if this party was 10 years ago. It would have been a different story. We’ve got kids running around our legs.”

And you can bet all the Coolly crew who can’t make it to Hawaii will be gathered around the webcast with a few brews to watch it all go down, whatever the hour. “There’s a few of us who hook it up to the big screen and watch it into the early hours. When you love the sport that much it gets a bit addictive. You decide, I won’t watch the next heat and go to bed, but you just keep watching.”

Could he ever have imagined as a grommet that his boyhood mates would one day be duking it out at Pipe for a world title? “No way, not really. You just don’t know when you’re grommets. You know they surf heaps better than you, but you wouldn’t think they’d be leading the pack of the new generation. It didn’t come overnight at all. They worked hard on it. They backed themselves in surfing, not doing a trade or anything, and they were lucky enough to have the support of their families.”


Parko's board spray even matches his trunks. Pic Shield

When the pair met at maxing Kirra at the Quiksilver Pro at the start of the year, in an epic semi-final in front of  a packed Point, the competitive instincts of the two friends were on show for all to see. Joel went to an early lead and had Mick comboed, and when Mick snapped his board it looked all over. After a quick jetski ride in to change boards, Mick charged out and in a sudden flurry collected an 8 and a 9 and had Joel comboed. Joel responded by racking up a 9 and a 10 of his own to turn the tables, all in the space of minutes. If we see similar drama at Pipe it will be a showdown for the ages.

“How could Mick be upset losing to that? That’s the stuff that happens two or three times a year, getting the skis out at Kirra and getting a couple of those caverns, and to have you and your mate out there and having ski assist, head to head, it’s pretty all time,” says Beau. “As soon as you saw those two match up you knew it was going to be fireworks. Those guys are more competitive with each other than anyone else on tour.”

And how does he think the lads are dealing with all the attention and world title hype?  “Mick’s super relaxed just because he’s been there before and he knows what comes with the territory of it. He seems to juggle it a lot better. It’s familiar territory. With Joel, a lot of the extra attention is all kind of new.”

Whatever happens, Beau’s adamant the pair will remain the best of mates. “Most definitely. If anything, it will just be great when it’s over and they can sit down and enjoy each other’s company without thinking about competition. They have two or three months down time and for sure they’ll enjoy a couple of drinks and enjoy not having the competition and the vibe around the whole thing. I think it would make their friendship stronger.”