Gold Coast sports identities say Mick Fanning’s J-Bay win is unrivaled

GOLD Coast’s sports identities say Mick Fanning’s stunning Jeffreys Bay triumph goes beyond anything seen before.

Mick Fanning’s J-Bay victory rated by Gold Coast sports identities as the greatest. Picture: WSL.

GOLD Coast sports identities say Mick Fanning’s stunning Jeffreys Bay triumph puts the surfing superstar in a stratosphere all of his own.

Praise for Fanning’s win in the World Surf League’s J-Bay Open has flooded in, with many stunned the 35-year-old was able to claim the title 12 months after he was attacked by a great white shark at the same event.

The shocking attack was followed later last year by the breakdown of his marriage and the death of his brother.

Gold Coast Titans NRL coach Neil Henry described Fanning as a legend and praised his toughness.

“I can’t remember a better example of mental toughness and professional focus as an elite level in recent times,” Henry said.

“He’s a dead set legend.”

Gold Coast Suns AFL coach Rodney Eade said Fanning was a role model to all ­involved in sport.

“Him winning displayed not only his talent but his great mental strength,” Eade said.

“(He is) a great role model to all sports people in overcoming hurdles and adversity.”

Suns young gun Touk Miller, who was in the ice baths after the Suns’ loss to Western Bulldogs in Cairns when he found out, said it was a great sporting achievement.

“When I saw he won I was so stoked,” Miller said.

“I just genuinely felt good for him and it’s such a good story. You can tell all the surf­ers around him were just as happy for him.

“I don’t know what would have been going through his head going into the final.

“After what happened last year and what he has had to deal with going into this year, talk about being mentally strong.”

Miller met and surfed with Fanning last year and said he wasn’t surprised those inside and outside the sport of surfing were gripped by his story.

“He is a ripping bloke,” Miller said.

“Anyone who would have met him or knows of him I’m sure says the same thing about him.

“Even those who don’t follow surfing get on the bandwagon because of how humble he is and what he is doing for the sport.”

Top Gold Coast jockey Dan Griffin rated Fanning’s feat above his own in the saddle this season.

Griffin will achieve his own big milestone in the coming weeks when he is crowned the Gold Coast jockeys premiership winner this season for the seventh time.

The premiership win comes after Griffin tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in a sickening three-horse fall at the Gold Coast in November 2012.

Griffin’s achievement to win his first premiership since the horror fall is huge in itself.

But the “King Of The Coast” believed it wouldn’t compare with Fanning’s performance, considering he was the subject of a shark attack at J-Bay last year.

“It’s better than coming back from a race fall because I’m scared of sharks,” Griffin said.

“I would have been like a big squid in the water and you would have seen nothing but mud everywhere.

“His family has been through a pretty rough trot and he is a bloody good bloke. He deserves every success.”

Supercars speedster and Gold Coaster James Courtney knows a thing or two about sensational comebacks. The 2010 series champion last year took on – and conquered – Surfers Paradise’s concrete canyon in his first race weekend after suffering fractured ribs and a punctured lung when a low-flying helicopter flung debris at him.

“Any win is a massive achievement but to do it after everything that has gone on for him over the last 12 months is a credit to the person he is,” Courtney said.