Slater out Abberton in

[Nappy]

ther ya go sydney crew u got a local in. I personally hope he gets smashed

Replacing Slater in the 48-man lineup – which is made up of the top 45 in the world plus three wildcards – is Australian Koby Abberton who at the time of going to press is boarding a plane to Fiji from his home town of Sydney.

http://www.aspworldtour.com/

[gman]

anyone know whats kobes ranking on the wqs is?

[Nappy]

anyone know whats kobes ranking on the wqs is?

As far as i can see he isnt in the top 100.

[filthbarrel]

C'mon dudes - it's a publicity stunt designed to keep media going when surfing's no.1 drawcard Jimmy Slade has pulled the pin.

And look -it's working.

I hope this backfires -but doubt it will.

Good stroke by the media advisers in Fiji - but really, Koby has been found guilty of perverting the course of justice during a police investigation of a shooting death.

Subsequently, he is a criminal and has been dropped by sponsors.

I think there are a lot more deserving blokes worthy of getting a start.

And I ask - in terms of procedure -how do you bump a bloke in who has zero ranking on the QS.

Hasn't surfed a QS in . . . well I dont know how long.

And remember, anyone can have a QS ranking by paying the fee. Like the near 50 year old bozo from Byron who doesn't even paddle out when the waves are over 3ft. Serious.

Makes a mockery of the sport. Would never be allowed in tennis. Wildcard sure -but to be flown in as Slater's replacement?

Joke. And the ASP, if it had intestinal fortitude, would have a close look at the rule book.

[Nick Carroll]

"Would never be allowed in tennis"? Since when was THAT a credo for success in surfing?

In all ASP WCT events, there is room for three wildcards, one to be selected by the event licence holder, the others by the ASP (often by the mechanism of a local trials event). If top 45 seeds drop out, as Kelly has in this instance, the seed becomes a wildcard. It's got bugger all to do with the WQS rankings.

In this case, if you're labouring under the impression that Kobes's seeding is a publicity stunt, you should know that his public profile overseas is severely limited. Koby is little known outside Australia; his legal predicaments are even less understood. If Globe is his new sponsor (as would seem likely, though it hasn't been broadcast as yet), they may see it as a way of promoting a new team rider. They'll have long memories of Koby thanks to his outstanding performance in free-surfing Cloudbreak in the mega swells of last year's event. These will have no effect on his heat performances in this year's event, in which he is likely to struggle against the highly refined WCT professionals, especially since he'll be drawn against high seeds from the outset.

Kelly was never gonna surf in Fiji, his rib injury will take a long time to heal and he may find it hard to compete before Jeffreys Bay. The fact that he stalled his withdrawal is proof of his underlying competitive desire. His injury has opened the door for his competitors.

[Jamoe]

Regardless, there are still many surfers WAY more deserving the Abberton

[reggie]

hes not a bad surfer though.. no whinging will change the fact he's there... so just wait n see how he goes

[filthbarrel]

"Never be allowed in tennis" was an attempt at humour.

Obviously lost and misguided.

Fair enough on straightening the facts up re wildcard call. Thanks for that NC.

Rule book 2005 p9 states

iv) There will be 6 wildcards for each of the men's events. Three are for the event to select while the other 3 wildcards are to be selected by the WPS.

Relevant here is rule 4 a i) If a qualifying surfer decides to relinquish their seeded position on tour or in an event they will be replaced by the following procedure. For all injury, non-compulsory attendance or retiree's (sic) the replacement selection order will be as follows.

(1) For both men and women, the next prior year's WCT non-re-qualifier, followed by the next prior year's WCT non-re-qualifier, followed by the prior year's WCT non-re-qualifier then back to the event as a Wild Card with all other vacancies to be filled from trials if a trials is being held, otherwise the event has the option to select the surfer.

I remain convinced that there are many others worthy of 5 minutes in the spotlight other than a bloke who has been convicted of such a serious and abhorrent offence.

Sure, turn the other cheek, bloke should be able to get on with his life and all that stuff . . . but we are talking, as the Boss once called it, murder incorporated.

Yes, that is a very judgmental and moralistic call. But we aint talking about a bloke caught having a joint out the back of a 21st.

Koby will get a good run in the Australian media - Fairfax and News both love Abberton stories -and therefore, so will Globe. AAP will run it and it will get picked up overseas.

"World number one surfer replaced by justice perverter in murder case"

The media monitor counts won't distinguish between 'bad' and 'good' calls.

[dammit__01]

Did Ned Kelly have a QS ranking?

the pubic wig is back

as NC said there is probably a sponsorship with globe in there somewhere and that wouldve been heavy influence i imagine

[filthbarrel]

One can either side with the myth and legend that Kelly was a misunderstood Robin Hood type hero who was avenging an unfair system or one can say he was a cop killing scumbag.

Suppose he can be both.

Just like Koby can be a poor bloke from the wrong side of the tracks who charged big waves and was able to lift himself out of the mire of the Maroubra housing estates or perhaps a big headed, overpaid sportsman who thought loyalty to family warranted lying to cops in a murder investigation.

Suppose he can be both.

Not everything is black and white, but perverting the course of justice in a murder investigation is not being just a naughty boy.

I can't believe he didn't change his address by about 3 kilometres. DPP should have appealed.

[munch]

And Fudgepacker - I'm not back - just visiting - I might have to start up a "Where's Merkin" competition

Wasting away in a barrel of boags

what do I win

[filthbarrel]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/tide-t ... 29305.html

http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/s ... 22,00.html

Nothing else going (besides a death on the reef or a drug bust) -or no one else going -would have got the words "Globe + Fiji + WCT" onto the front page of the SMH (from AAP) and The Daily Telegraph.

Not an invitation driven by publicity?

That is all from me on this one .

[gman]

it's about to get worse, a family relative of mine is writing a book on the bra boy's.

[Da Duke]

Well the only one's who'll buy it are the Brassier Boys so I hope your relo knows a good illustrator.

[tama]

Koby is in the water now, so we will soon see if he can cut it in competition.

[gman]

she's a court reporter for news limited. what can I tell ya, I told her she was flogging a dead horse.