Former world champion and ‘smiling assassin ready to shred at the Quicksilver Pro

IF you see Joel Parkinson with a smile on his face before a heat at the Quiksilver Pro he says there is a good chance he will win it.

IF you see Joel Parkinson with a smile on his face before a heat, he says there is a good chance he will win it.

With the Quiksilver Pro coming up next month he says he’s feeling 100 per cent, with a lot less on his plate heading into the competition compared to last year, when he lost a reported $566,000 investment in the Gold Coast Titans after the NRL took the club over.

“There were definitely some distractions last year and there hasn’t been too many this year, so it seems my life is back on track and hopefully so is my career,” Parkinson told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Joel Parkinson at the Australian Academy of Surfing at Casurina with juniors from the Subway Program. Picture: Glenn Hampson

The self-confessed smiling assassin said he was in with a chance to take out the win at the local break next month if he paddled out with a smile.

“If I am enjoying it, I am a dangerous surfer,” he said.

Joel Parkinson surfing at Snapper. Picture: Tim Marsden

“If I’m smiling, then that’s when I’m surfing best.”

While the 34-year-old is still a force on the world tour he is open about retiring in “a couple of years” — or earlier if he stopped enjoying the competition.

Ren Hashimoto works out under the watchful eye of Parko. Picture: Glenn Hampson

“I guess I’ve only got a couple of years (left on the tour) so I go in knowing I need to really enjoy the waves and enjoy the competition,” he said. Parkinson, with women’s world tour surfer Laura Enever, mentored junior athletes at a training camp for junior surfers selected from the Subway Surf Series at Hurley Surfing Australia High Performance Centre in Casuarina yesterday.

Former world surfing champion Joel Parkinson. Picture: Waide Maguire.