The team selection is based on a payroll. Each players starts with a bank of $50 million and with that cash you are able to select a team of eight competitors.  Top competitors like Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning and Taj Burrow fetch between $10-12 million, while middle guys like Taylor Knox and the Hobgood twins get about $7 million and the perennial bottom feeders like Mick Cambell and Neco Padaratz cost in the $3 million range.  To top out the list, there are always a few local wildcards going for $300,000. Usually those are the guys used to fill out your roster when you are broke and surprisingly their knowledge of the wave sometimes makes them the best bargain available. 

With three contests down the usual guys are at the tops, but one surprise being Jadson Andre from Brazil. The newcomer won that last contest in his home country which vaulted him to a  number four ranking and as a result his fantasy cost  has risen.  I did not have him picked and I really never do well when selecting a team for the Brazil contest. It’s proximity to the source  (Bolivia, Colombian and Peru) combined with the Brazilian female contingency that run amuck at contest sites has caused many a top surfer to spend their time in Brazil holed up in a hotel room with a pile of powder and a few hot babes instead of focusing on their upcoming heats. Can you blame them? 

Next up, the Jeffery’s Bay, South Africa contest held between July 15th and the 25th.  The right hand point is considered one of the wonders of the world of surfing.  A long right where leg strength and speed are a prerequisite for any type of success. I am looking for the top guys to have solid results.  There are not blow peddlers on every corner  and hot women running around in g strings (sorry bru) on the beach, so this contest will have far less casualties than in some of the other contest locations.  I am going with a team of regular footers and hoping for the best. 

My line up – 

Kelly Slater – focused and on a roll and his 18 year old girlfriend has him feeling like a grom again 
Andy Irons – if he can stay clean or at least 1/2 way clean, he could be back on track 
Mick Fanning – speed he has, power he is getting – always dangerous in long rights 
Jordy Smith – confidence of a vet – combining new school tricks and old school power – back at home in South Africa Patrick Guadauskas – surfing well and we need another CA tour main stay 
Brett Simpson – I am from HB, I have to go with him 
Travis Logie – the lone goofy footer on my team, but he is from South Africa and that will help 
Wild card – pick one up for cheap right before the contest

Patrick Reilly is not a grom. He is actually the Fantasy Surfer Editor @TheFantasyFix.com.
Email – [email protected]

Tags: Fantasy Surfing, Fantasy Surfer, Fantasy Sports Advice, Fantasy Sports Blog, The Fantasy Fix, Kelly Slater, Jordy Smith, Jadson Andre, Patrick Guadauskas, Brett Simpson, Travis Logie, Andy Irons, Mick Fanning, Patrick Reilly, Taj Burrow, Neco Padaratz, Taylor Knox, Damien Hobgood, CJ Hobgood, Fantasy Surfer, Jeffery’s Bay