Kelly slips, Joel dominates

Well what a difference a few months can make. When I last posted (a long time ago) Kelly was king and no-one else stood a chance. I was looking forward to a bit more competition on the CT, but I didn't see it happening until Slater got his 10th and finally let someone else have a go. It looks like I was wrong...

We might be only two events into the 2009 Dream Tour, but the tables have turned. The 9 times world champ currently stands at 24 in the ASP rankings, with two consecutive 17th place finishes. Ok, it's early days, but bear in mind Slats won in both Queensland and Victoria last year (and lifted the trophy in another four events that season), so the great man has truly come down to earth from a great height and with an almightly bump, or splash... I'm not saying we should write off Kelly's chances of sealing the magic 10th just yet, but there's no doubt he is in for a good old fight, assuming he can pull something special out of the bag in the next few events.

And how dangerous is Joel Parkinson looking? He's not suddenly the new Kelly, but two emphatic wins on home soil have shown how one surfer can sometimes get so much momentum on the tour that he looks unstoppable. And what's more the top 44 arrive in Tahiti for the inevitable barrel fest at Teaupo next month - Parko went all the way to the semis last year and judging by his current form, I'd put good money on him sealing the hat-trick in those lush tropical waves.

But let's not overlook the rest of the chasing pack - my favourites CJ and Taj are looking good at 5th and 7th respectively (CJ also made the semis in Tahiti last year), and many of the top contenders are looking strong - Mick Fanning, Jordy Smith, Fred Patacchia and Adriano de Souza are all representing in the top 7 and any of those guys could put the heat on Parko.

All in all it looks pretty exciting so far, and we should celebrate the fact that not only does the field look (relatively) open - assuming Parko doesn't win all the events - but also that the top 7 contains surfers from pretty much all the great surfing nations - Australia, Hawaii, USA and Brazil. My only question - where are the Brits?! Probably down the pub...