Questionable Non-Interference Nearly Leads To A Parking Lot Fight In Margaret River
And our writer watched it all go down.
The WSL just finished its longest day in history — read our full daily report on Stab Premium here.
We saw 28 heats in Western Australia, many of them quite good. But it was Heat 9 of Men’s Round 2 that caused the biggest stir — and nearly resulted in blows between the reigning world champ and a former/probably future CT surfer but current local wildcard Jacob Wilcox.
Below is an account from our writer on the ground, Tom de Souza.
The real event of the day was between Jacob Willcox and Yago Dora, and none of it really happened in the water. Yago turned to take off on a wave but had to pull back when Jacob appeared underneath him. Both thought it was interference. Two out of five judges did too, but majority rules. Still, neither surfer played the whistle. None of them checked their watches or heard the judges, until Jacob rode a wave that turned the heat ten minutes later.
Yago lost his shit when he heard it. Things got heated, both chirping in the water, then all the way up the stairs. It seemed to cool briefly when Jacob tried to apologise. As two grown men, they probably could’ve sorted it out. But then Yago’s coach stepped in, warning Jacob to back off and reminding him how things might play out if the roles were reversed in Brazil. That didn’t land well.
Not long after, just as I snuck out for a durry, a call came through on the security radio with an urgent request for security backup in the locker room. Potential dispute. Both parties eventually made their separate exits.
In the media donga we thought it was all done, until a channel 7 reporter came bursting in. “You might want to head down to the car park,” she said. “It’s kicking off.”
That kicking off involved Jacob, coach, a former heavyweight boxer Danny Green, speaking with a security guard and WSL head of security, who stood with arms folded. Jacob was pointing, viciously, apparently mimicking Yago’s body language that he disagreed with.
It was a tense moment. As a media reporter, I pulled out my iPhone to film it. Danny Green noticed. He stormed up, eyes bulging, demanding that I take my phone out of my pocket and delete the video immediately. The manner of his approach was not that of a man who is an active anti coward punch campaigner.
Security tried to calm him down, muffling on about media credentials being revoked, not ruffling feathers, etc. Didn’t seem worth causing a stir over. Video deleted.
Yago and crew soon sauntered out. Jacob glared over in their direction. It was a look between wanting to apologise and defuse the whole debacle and punch him straight in the nose. Yago and co played it cool, put their boards in the rental van and drove out past the other group.
Whole thing kinda seemed unnecessary, a clash of swollen egos. Then again, most violence is.
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