Ten questions with Craig Anderson
Craig is a pretty faced, olive-skinned 20-year-old from the steelworks capital of Australia, Newcastle. He also surfs quite well, hates Victoria and thinks Jordy Smith is not the best surfer in the world (yet).
The free surfing dream vs competitive success?
Not even a question. Free surfing is fun, contests aren’t. I’ve done a couple of comps and its fun travelling with your mates and watching them do well. But you get 20 minutes to catch two waves and some guy will scum a couple of turns to beach and win. It’s annoying. Then you have Reynolds doing stuff that’s not even in the same realm. They shouldn’t score guys that milk stuff to beach. They need a better scale for judging and more reward for progressive manoeuvres.
The rebel tour and Kelly Slater’s involvement?
He could have gone about it better but I reckon it’s awesome. There has to be a change in surfing. The ASP has been around for so long and it’s the same old shit. To see a new tour with different waves and progressive surfing would be epic.
The Modern Collective.
They are the shit. Those six surfers are the best in the world. When I get a surfing video, say Days of the Strange or Stranger than Fiction those are the guys I watch. Back in the old days it was just about the surfing, not anymore. It’s their whole style.
Who is the best surfer in the world and why?
Reynolds or Julian. I was in Bali hanging with Julian getting some stuff done for his movie and the waves were shit but watching him surf was mind blowing. He was doing crazy combos, crazy punts, has a really good style and just pulled everything. He was so consistent. He would get like three or four crazy clips a surf. He’s at the forefront of progressive surfing. And I went to Reunion with Jordy and Coleborn, but Julian is right there. I haven’t seen Dane surf as much but they J Bay contest was nuts. Doing that stuff with the amount of pressure you’re under was crazy.
The future of hi-fi surfing.
On the Runamuk blog I saw Wade Goodall trying passion pops where he would swing his body the other way or something. I think it will go more like skating with more flips and board varials.
Least favourite surfing destination?
Victoria is the worst. Jan Juc is the arsehole of the earth. Bells sucks. Fuck that place.
Your hometown Newcastle is famous for burley steelworkers. You ain’t no steelworker. Cop any barbs?
My hair’s not too bad. It’s a bit long. Newy used to be all tradies and stuff but the next generation are super trendy. It went from me going out and seeing guys in V-necks and being like whoa, that’s over the top to feeling out of place because everyone is in them. Everyone wants to be a DJ, there’s a big pinger scene. I’m not into wearing V-neck, button up shirts and super tight jeans but I still like my disco music. I don’t mind a bigger t-shirt, tight jeans, high tops and a hat.
Who is gonna be world champ in five years and why?
Jordy and he’ll be there for while. He’s built to win contests, he’s a real competitor and once he gets it wired he will be unstoppable.
Who’s gonna pull the first 720 oop (over rotation where you land backwards)?
Jordy was trying them in Reunion on that right. It had the hugest air bowl with the perfect wind everyday and he was getting close. Julian came really close in Bali. He landed backwards a couple of times but didn’t spin it around. He wants to land one before his movie finishes filming. I’d put my money on him.
The ultimate performance wave?
Macaronis but I can’t surf for shit out there. I love chasing big sandy wedges and ramps of doom. There are a couple of waves at home like that, around Tuncurry and Newcastle. My favourite though would be Rocky Lefts. The wind comes straight into it everyday and there is always a ramp at the start or end but it’s a mission to get a wave. – Jed Smith
Posts: 21
Reply #21 on : Fri April 09, 2010, 21:46:13