#putClayinFiji won’t get Clay Marzo a Wildcard. But Taj Burrow’s got one!

10 years ago, a hashtag was simply known as the pound key, or number sign.

Who would’ve thought that in this new era of web-rules-all, such a sign, smashed together by wordswithoutspaces would hold significance? Now we remember, #bruce4pipemasterswildcard, where the WSL ended up gifting Mr Irons with the slot, however denied any correlation to the trending hashtag. 

Unless Clay surfs in the Local Fiji Trials, we won’t be seeing the kid in a singlet anytime soon. 

So now, in advance for Fiji, Surfing Magazine’s cooked up a new hashtag to make some noise around: #putClayinFiji, which would be interesting. Who doesn’t enjoy watching Mr Marzo surf hallow left handers? Clay notoriously doesn’t compete and it’s questionable if he’d even be up for it. “We want to see Clay in the world’s best waves,” is stated on Surfing Mag’s site. “And, do you know where there’s great surf and never more than three guys out? A CT event. And, do you know which CT event would pair with Clay like Jay and Bey? Fiji, that’s where. Which is why we are filing an unsolicited request that the WSL gives Clay a wildcard to event No. 5.” 

Will the WSL acknowledge this “unsolicited request”? We asked Mr Dave Prodan, VP of WSL Communications to get the finer details. “Well, I can appreciate the desire,” Dave told Stab, “but the wildcards (2) for the Fiji Pro have already been allocated to Taj Burrow and the winner of the Local Fijian Trials.” So you can rally around this social media sensation, however not much will come out of it. If this comes as a bit of a let down, please remind yourself of Clay’s prowess above. 

Instead, what you can take out of it is Taj! The recent CT retiree will be throwing the jersey back on for Fiji. His retirement has also secured Adam Melling a spot on the tour for the remainder of the season. “Taj is always epic to watch at Cloudbreak and Restaurants,” said WSL Commissioner, Kieren Perrow, “and we look forward to seeing him unleash his brand of surfing out there one more time before he hangs up the singlet for good.”

All the while, the boys on the injury replacement list continue to strive forward in the rankings. Sebastian Zietz, after winning Margarets is sitting in the number two spot behind Matt Wilkinson. And, Stu Kennedy, is the current world number 12. The possibility of qualification next year is looking sharp as both gents are already locked in for Brazil, Fiji and J-Bay. “Owen Wright has already pulled out of all three events,” says Mr Perrow, “and Bede Durbidge has pulled out of the first two, but even if he’s back in time for J-Bay, Zietz will get one of the wildcard spots there based on his performances this year, which we’re very excited about.”