Preseason Surfer Profile: Joel Parkinson

Leading up to the 2016 World Surf League Championship Tour season, I will be counting down my projected Top 10 surfers for the highest level of men's competitive surfing. A preview of the women's 2016 season is also to come.

*With the news that Owen Wright will miss the first half of the season, I have had to make adjustments to the Go Left Projected Top 10 Rankings for the WSL’s 2016 Championship Tour. I originally had Owen fourth in my rankings, and with his participation limited I’ve omitted him entirely from the list. Joel Parkinson, the first man on the outside looking in at the Top 10 following the omission of Mick Fanning, now moves into the Top 10. I will edit previous surfer profiles to reflect these changes as well.

Joel Parkinson, Australia

2016 Go Left World Ranking Projection: 10

2015 World Ranking: 13

2015 WCT Wins: 0

2015 was a down year for Parko; there is no way around that. The oddest thing about last year was that it didn’t really appear as if his surfing had slipped, but he was on the losing end a lot of heats anyway. Perhaps that can be chalked up to bad luck, or the World Tour getting better, but one can’t simply ignore the results that Parko posted. The Aussie vet failed to make a single semifinal in 2015, which was extremely surprising, but he did finish the year with two fifths and a ninth in his last four events. Still, this is a guy that has a World Title to his name and finished just outside the Top 5 in 2014, so we've become accustomed to better results.

Joel Parkinson on the Gold Coast, where he'll look to get off to a good start in 2016.
Courtesy of Michael Dawes

2012’s World Title seems like a long time ago, and there are a lot of young, talented surfers on the rise on the CT. Maybe Parko doesn’t have that fire in his belly anymore, or perhaps he’s just on the downside of his career. He’s one of the smoothest surfers to ever hit the pro tour, and I think we can expect some solid yet unspectacular results from him in 2016. At 34 years old, Parko has had a great career of consistent World Title contention, but perhaps those days are behind him.  

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