“The Past Few Years Left A Bad Taste In My Mouth, But Making This Reminded Me Why I Started Surfing”

Morgan Cibilic is a high-performance actor moonlighting as a high-performance surfer.

Since Postcards from Morgs, he’s commanded attention — not just for his explosive surfing but for his burning ambition for theatre; his name now spoken in the same breath as the greats in surfer-acting: Slater, Dorian, Occy, Bethany and Laird Hamilton.

His command of the craft is so good, in fact, that there’s a chance his rookie-of-the-year run to a Final 5 finish was all one big, meticulously crafted production. But that was a few years ago. 

Now, we bring you a highly anticipated new blockbuster from Morgan: Shrapnel. It might just be his most breathtaking performance yet. Filmed over the past two years amid layers of events, Morgs, along with starring cameos from LOB and Callum Robson, throws some playful barbs at the economics of the Challenger Series and the uninspiring waves they’re often stuck with.

In the film, we find Morgan, desperately needing wax for his upcoming event but struggling with only the rattle of silver coins in his pocket — barely able to hustle half a block from his local surf shop. As he heads to the bus stop, board in hand, he begins his journey across the seas to South Africa, via public transport, where he runs into CT surfer and someone of a notably higher financial status, Liam O’Brien. LOB takes pity on Morgan and hands him a few coins. Morgan, clearly moved by this gesture, accepts them with heartfelt gratitude, and steps onto the bus.

“I just wanted to take the piss out how little money we’re making on the Challenger series,” says Morgan. “You’ve also probably seen how expensive wax is. The industry sucks at the moment, but hopefully it gets a little better soon.”

After what was assumedly a multi-day, highly torturous, cross-continent bus journey, Morgs finally wakes up at his destination and heads straight into the water at J-Bay — a place that’s seemed to toy with him and remain elusive on purpose throughout his career.

“It’s one of my favourite trips I’ve ever done,” Morgs tells us. “It was a stop on tour the year before I got on, then it was off the schedule in 2021, and then the year I fell off, it was fucking firing.”

Since getting the noose from the mid-year cut in his sophomore season, Morgs has been painfully close to getting back on the big stage every year since. But three seasons on, he’s still yet to close the deal again.

“It’s weird because compared to when I qualified and made the final five, I feel like I’m a better surfer now, but for some reason, getting the results has been harder,” reflects Morgs. “It was only my second year on tour. It’s not like I was a veteran. Staying there was never going to be easy for me. This year, I was so mentally not there. I feel like I had a terrible year, but I still ended up 19th, just a few heat wins away from qualifying. I see that as a huge positive in itself, so hopefully, I can build from here and have another crack.”

Drained bank accounts and limp waves aside, Morgs recognises the spark of camaraderie on the Challenger Series that’s sadly missing on the Wozzle circuit. 

“You’re kind of forced to band together to be able to travel and do the tour, because nobody is earning any money. It definitely brings everyone closer, and I’m gonna miss the faces of some of the guys who made the tour this year. I’ve got a feeling we won’t be seeing them for a while,” notes Morgan. “If I get back on tour, I’m gonna bring that Aussie camaraderie with me.”