Injury Update

It’s almost as if getting injured on the North Shore (or in this case elsewhere) guarantees exposure… People are mesmereized by injury – be it the pain, backstory, or recovery process – so we caught up with Young Gun Julian Wilson on the deck of the Red Bull house overlooking Off The Wall to find out how things are coming along for him, and what it’s like to come to the North Shore at eighty percent.

So give us an injury update.

Well I started surfing again, and I’m probably back at eighty percent. I think my ankle is good but it’s a bit in my head. My instinct is to protect it so it’ll come back it just takes a bit of time. No airs just yet. I had a couple of surfs before I came over here but haven’t surfed much here because it’s been about ten foot everyday. I don’t think that’d be a great idea straight away, but it’ll come.

Where have you been surfing?

I’ve just been surfing at Off The Wall and a couple little days at Backdoor and it feels fine pulling into barrels and stuff, but on cutbacks and stuff it feels a bit weird.

I hurt it running into the surf. I just ran out and busted it. It was a bummer.

What else have you been up to on the North Shore? Parties?

Not too much partying, alcohol kind of makes it swollen and it’s just not worth it for me. But I’ve been playing a lot of golf. We had a charity golf event yesterday. I went out there at 8 o’clock in the morning and came back at 7 o’clock at night.

Who’ve you been playing with lately?

Everyon’es been playing. Tommy Whitaker, Jarrad Howse, Bruce, Luke Munro, Dusty…everyone plays.

What kind of boards have you been riding during your recovery?

I’ve got a rehab stick. It’s a 5’5” fish and it’s so fun.

Do you have any goals for this season on the North Shore?

No goals. Just train and surf I’m not trying to get any crazy photos or anything like that. I’m just taking my time and getting one hundred percent and get ready for January for the world titles, and I don’t feel too much pressure – it’ll happen.

I’m doing a lot of rehab with the bubble ball. That’s the biggest thing is just building back strength in my legs.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but you’ve grown about four inches since I last saw you. Has your size changed your equipment or surfing at all?

Everone’s saying I got a lot bigger, but I haven’t noticed it. I can still paddle my boards and maybe when I start surfing properly again I can tweak my equipment

What’s next for you?

A lot of traveling. I’ve gotten to pick the locations of my trips and it’s a new thing, but I’m really stoked on it. I get to go where I want to go and shoot where I want to shoot.

What’s your most interesting location?

Not sure if I want to tell you that…ha. You’ll see though.