Rabbit’s son off to a winning start

JOEL Parkinson made his name as one of the Coolangatta kids but it was another Cooly resident that put on a show in the opening day of Parko’s Grom Stomp.

Keo Bartholomew, son of former world surfing champ Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew was among the standouts in the opening round of the 16 and under boys division at Currumundi on the Sunshine Coast yesterday.

Fellow Coolangatta surfer Raya Campbell was among the best in the girls 16 and under opening round, while defending 14 and under champion Marlon Harrison was another Gold Coaster to progress in the peeling left handers on the opening day.

Parkinson learnt to surf on the Sunshine Coast before moving to the Gold Coast where he forged a name for himself ahead of joining the world tour.

And it was Sunshine Coast locals that dominated on the opening day of the 11th annual Billabong Parko’s Grom Stomp competition.

Bartholomew will be up again this morning in Round 3 of the 16 and under competition, as will Coffs Harbour’s Ethan Stocks, who starred in the same division in the 1m conditions at Ann Street Reef. ADELAIDE United coach Marco Kurz is taking his team’s rusty pre-season form for what it is – a by-product of the magic of the FFA Cup.

The Reds were outplayed and outworked on Wednesday night by Queensland NPL premiers Lions FC but scraped through with a 1-0 win to reach the quarter-finals of the knockout tournament.

Their next assignment is Apia Leichhardt, the team who stunned A-League champions Melbourne Victory last week.

Kurz admitted Adelaide were “lucky” to progress, having seen off a plucky challenge from the Lions in Brisbane.

But he is viewing the performance in proper context United are still very much in the throes of pre-season.