A childhood in Sydney's west helped shape Australia's triple world surfing champion Mick Fanning

HE now rules the world's waves but once champion surfer Mick Fanning's field of play was the landlocked concrete streets of Campbelltown.

HE now rules the world's waves but once world champion surfer Mick Fanning's field of play was the landlocked concrete streets of Campbelltown on the back of a skateboard.

Until someone trashed the local ramp.

"They lit firecrackers under it and phew, gone,'' laughed Fanning yesterday from Hawaii, just a day after he become one of only five men to win three or more world surfing titles.

A family photo from Mick Fanning's book Surf For Your Life. "Family photo in front of our house in Penrith. Rachel is holding me, while Sean, Edward and Peter are nicely lined up in front of Mum".

This Penrith-born nomad, who has counted Campbelltown, Ballina, Coffs Harbour and Coolangatta among his NSW homes over the years, says he learned many lessons in Sydney's hard working suburbs before heading north at age 12.

One of the lessons is the importance of family.

Fanning revealed to the The Daily Telegraph he though of his brother Sean, killed in a car accident in 1998, constantly while surfing the Pipe Masters.

"Every time I am out there I am always asking him to send me a good wave,'' Fanning said.

"It's one of my rituals, scratching his initials into my wax before I paddle out.

"He is still a huge part of my life and always will be.''

A baby Mick Fanning in his backyard at Penrith.

While his playground now includes some of the most exotic locations on the planet, Fanning has never forgotten his roots in Sydney's west where loyalty counts, where rugby league rules and where mateship matters.

"Yeah, I still go for Penrith. I was about to jump ship to the Titans at one stage and I was good friends with Matt Elliott and it was the same year he went there as coach and he told me if I left he'd kill me,'' Fanning said.

"The first time I went for them I think was 1990. It was Canberra and Penrith in the final and I was at the snow and we were watching the grand final on TV. Unfortunately we didn't win that year. But everyone was going for Canberra down there and I just decided I loved Penrith. And that's when me being a life long fan started. When I was eight or nine.''

Mick Fanning (R) with former Penrith Panthers NRL coach Matt Elliott.

Fanning, whose favourite childhood memory of living in Penrith involves running to the shops for a Paddle Pop, said the lessons instilled by him at a young age are still with him today.

"My parents being Irish were very loyal people, very honest,'' he said.

"That's one thing I try to be. If I have a friend I will be with them to the death. That's the way it is. The way you have to roll.''

While he regularly caught the train to Manly to surf while living out west, Fanning admits his love affair with surfing did not really start until he was around 12 and a "Coolangatta kid''.

Now closer to the water, his talent multiplied with Fanning identified when just a grommet as a major talent of the future.

Mick Fanning on his way to sealing a stunning world title win at the Pipeline Masters.

Former boss of the ASP Australasia Steve Robertson yesterday said he vividly remembers the day he saw Fanning surf for the first time.

"I was alerted that this 13-year-old kid was about to surf in some really junior event at Bells and I needed to go have a look,'' Robertson remembers.

"He was just this raw, raw talent and the thing that struck me immediately was the fact that he wasn't that stylist or graceful but he was incredibly fast. Lightning quick. He attacked waves with his speed.

Mick Fanning celebrates winning his third world title at the Pipeline Masters.

"He was just this really scrawny kid with pure white hair. He wasn't that clean cut. He looked like he had mongrel in him.

"He was street smart but he was never anything but really polite and helpful. Really well-mannered. He still is.''

It is this friendliness, respect and affability that saw thousands on the Hawaiian shoreline rise to their feet cheering when Fanning caught his "Hail Mary'' wave on Sunday to win a third world crown of surfing.

"It still doesn't feel real. But it's getting there,'' he said yesterday.

Mick Fanning celebrates winning his third world title at the Pipeline Masters.