Cronulla’s surfing community came together as one on Saturday night at Sharkies Leagues Club for the naming of the best local surfers of the century.
The second to last event in Surf Retrospect, a 100 years of surfing celebration, drew a full house eager to learn who would be on the list of Cronulla’s top 10 surfers of all time.
In what would have been a difficult process for the 20 judges tasked with compiling the list, the top 10 names were predictable and controversial in equal measure.
The 1999 world champion Mark Occhilupo (pictured) was the clear winner followed by a Who’s Who of local surfing elite.
Top 10: 1 Mark Occhilupo, 2 Bobby Brown,
3 Garry Green, 4 Jim Banks, 5 Richard Marsh,
6 Frank Latta, 7 Ross Marshall, 8 Glenn Pringle,
9 Kirk Flintoff, 10 Gary Birdsall.
Judges name top 10 surf riders of the century
On an occasion reserved for Cronulla’s upper echelon it was only fitting the night’s first standing ovation was reserved for the 10 boardriders clubs’ nominated club members of the century.
Unpaid and often overlooked, Graham Cassidy, Larry Beaver, Glenn Pringle, Brett Davis, Matt Menzies, Drew Cousemacker, Peter Trevena, Kim Moore, Sari Lokollo and myself accepted awards for more than 200 years of combined service to the surfing community.
Surfer Gerry Mannion and photographer Greg Button were awarded with the best surf photo for an iconic picture taken on Easter Saturday, 1977, in a big south swell.
It was an image that 1999 world champion Mark Occhilupo, now 48, who grew up at Kurnell, said is one of his most enduring memories of Cronulla.
The full house at Sharkies were on their feet again at the second to last event in Surf Retrospect, a 100 years of surfing celebration, when Sylvania BMW’s Cronulla’s top 10 surfers were announced.
In a somewhat predictable and controversial decision by the 20 judges, all the Cronulla professional surfers made the cut, with 1999 world champion Mark Occhilupo the clear winner, followed by Bobby Brown, Gary Green, Jim Banks and Richard Marsh.
The standout was when Bobby’s brothers Terry and John Brown and their children, including professional skateboarder and two times world X games gold medallist Jake, accepted Bobby’s No.2 ranking award.
Tears flowed and the room erupted when No.3-ranked surfer Gary Green said he may change colour, seeing there was so much Brown blood in the room.
The late Frank Latta, 1980s world finalist Ross Marshall, Elouera legend Glenn Pringle, aerialist Kirk Flintoff and 1960s identity Gary Birdsall made up the top 10, with musician and underground surfing sensation Terapai Richmond the unlucky 11th man.
Competition is not everything in the surfing world, but surfing is a sport, and even in the late 1960s when surfers dropped out and followed a different path, everyone still knew who the best surfers were.
The Cronulla surfing community has never stood as one before and the Surf Retrospect committee thanks the sponsors who were many and the public for its success in promoting the next generation of surfing stars.
Who would be your top 10 surf riders of the century, or would your list be the same?
