After his explosive performance at last year’s Gold Coast event and finals finish at the Quik Pro France, everyone’s excited to hear that Dane’s earned himself another wildcard entry into this year’s opening World Tour event whose waiting period begins in a couple of weeks from now (March 2nd-13th).

On hearing the news, Dane said, “As a wildcard you’re automatically the lowest seed in the contest so you get a really tough draw in the first three rounds which makes it really exciting but also really difficult.”

Sure enough, Dane will either draw Parko or Kelly in his round one heat so will have his work cut out for him but as usual his main concern is being able to rip quality waves and display the best of himself. He says he’s been watching a lot of John John but also gone back to watching stuff he liked as a kid, more traditional style surfing from Andy Irons and Kelly. “No-one is attacking waves like Andy these days”, he says.

Finally when asked by the ASP whether the 27 year old was at all considering a full-time return to the World Tour following the promising results he bagged last year Dane offered, “Never say never, but it’s unlikely in the near future.”