Ever wonder how you’d be at surfing if you’d grown up in the surfing hotbed of North Narrabeen on Sydney’s Northern Beaches? If 17-year-old Reuben Morrison is anything to go by then you’d certainly have an air game. We sat down with Reuben after his first ever New Zealand Surfing Championship campaign earlier this year.
Reuben was a standout all week in the free surfs and heats at the Nationals – in his first year competing as a New Zealand Passport-eligible surfer based internationally. Reuben’s dad, Aaron, grew up surfing Raglan and the east coast of Bay of Plenty from his family farm in the Waikato, before Aaron moved to Australia. There he fell in love with Reuben’s mum, Marnie Dannenberg. Aaron soon started a construction company and then a family.
Reuben has an older brother Kai, a talented skater and free surfer, and a younger sister Ella who is also getting into surfing. Growing up surfing on the Northern Beaches, and North Narrabeen in particular, is like being in a hornet’s nest of rippers. There are third generation surfers everywhere and coaches lending a hand at every beach. Air revs and alley oops are commonplace – they barely get a rise from the judges’ eyebrows in Australia. Very few sessions go unfilmed. It’s in stark contrast to the environment here in New Zealand. Having an air game here is an Ace in the pocket.
But there is something about the New Zealand comp scene, or maybe it’s Stent Road or Taranaki, that really gelled with Reuben. “The first thing I noticed was how cool and chilled out everybody was,” Reuben smiles. “The waves in the comp were the best waves I’ve ever surfed for a competition – fun big righthand walls with funky sections and ramps.”
Reuben said the standard impressed him. “The only difference I could see was the amount of competitors here in New Zealand – although there were less surfers there were still a lot of shredders,” he explains. “One of my firsts surfs at Stent Road I saw a local guy do a huge alley oop, and I saw heaps of New Zealand surfers blowing up in the free surfs.”
According to Reuben there were some differences with how the contests run in New Zealand compared to Australian surf comps. “In Australia there are more early rounds simply due to the number of competitors,” he explains. “It is tough to get into the comps because to the numbers as well. That makes them quite intense and I really noticed in New Zealand how everyone seems more relaxed and everyone is supporting each other.”
A highlight for Reuben was coming up against Olympian Billy Stairmand at Stent Road for their Open Men’s match-up. “Billy was a legend,” Reuben shares. “He surfed with so much experience – I was so stoked to surf against him. After the heat he gave me heaps of advice about traveling and surfing comps.”
While Taranaki wasn’t at its all-time best swell-wise during the Nationals week, it’s always a great surf destination and the back-to-back blue skies and light winds were welcomed. “Taranaki is sick – a favourite surf destination for me now,” Reuben admits. “One highlight was going to the Todd Energy Aquatic Centre in town and doing bombs off the tower with the cuzzies. Another highlight was surfing pumping left hand points with my uncle and cousins and getting cheered on by Remi from the rocks every surf.”
I ask Reuben if making the New Zealand Team is on his radar.
“No, I’m not pursuing a spot on the New Zealand team this year,” he grins. “I’ll leave it to my cousins … but maybe next year.”
After the Nationals Reuben was offered the chance to stay on with his cousins Rewa and Keo Morrison for the Westport Grom Comp scheduled for a week later. He grabbed the chance with both hands.
“Traveling with the cousins was a unique experience,” Reuben laughs. “It was nice to back the campervan up to epic breaks and spend great days surfing with my cousins. Aunty Rachael provided all the mean feeds. I was so thankful to be asked on the trip to the South Island – I will never forget it.”
At Tauranga Bay Reuben made up for his early exits at Nationals to take third in the Under 18s (earning himself a wad of cash). Then, at the Cape Classic, he narrowly missed out on a final’s berth thanks to local ripper Jai Earnshaw.
“Westport was great fun and Tauranga Bay is a fun break,” Reuben explains. “I was stoked to get a result there and to win some cash. A highlight for me from Westport was a really close heat I had with my cousin, Keo.”
“He pushed me really hard, but I couldn’t let him get it,” Reuben laughs.
In his Cape Classic semi-final up against Benji Lowen and Jai Earnshaw, Reuben came excruciatingly close to knocking Jai off his local perch. But Jai was having none of it. “Jai was another legend with tonnes of experience and local knowledge,” smiles Reuben. “After the heat we talked about the conditions and shared some good info about the Westport waves. He found the bigger waves and knew what he had to do. I’ll be back next year for redemption.”
Reuben returned to Australia with a plan to do some of the bigger comps and further develop his surfing. Following in the footsteps of his father and brother he has also decided to get his career underway. “I have left school and have embarked on a carpentry apprenticeship in Sydney.”
One things is for sure: if Reuben can weave his air game into his heats in New Zealand surf contests, then he’ll find fertile ground here. Watch this space.
Reuben Morrison
