How does it compare riding the Night of the
Jumps contests to say X-Fighters or X Games?
Night of the Jumps has a very high caliber of riders.
At each round there are maybe four or five guys
that have a good chance of winning. The courses
are always in small, tight arenas so you can’t really
do too much with the courses like you can at say
X-Fighters.
What’s your game plan for X-Fighters this year?
Can you tell us anything about this new trick you
mentioned earlier?
Haha it’s a secret, but if I get it, it should be a winner
so I want to focus on it quite a bit. My game-plan all
the time is just to be smooth and consistent. I think
my style helps me with that - and at the moment I
seem to be able to put in a good run every time and
that’s the key.
“
I’d say Australia has
a good FIVE GUYS who
could be the best in the
world on any day
”
Josh Sheehan seems to have his Double Backflip
so consistent at the moment. He’s stomping them
week in and week out on the Nitro tour and he’s
the only guy doing it. How do you think they are
going to score the Double Backflip at X-Fighters?
Josh is a super solid rider, but he had a really
bad year in 2013. I think the combination of too
much pressure, the double flip and the rest of the
competition – he just struggled to put it down. I think
this year he’ll be more relaxed and he’ll be up on the
podium with me haha.
What’s your favourite riding spot when you’re not
out competing?
I’d say one of my favourite spots would have to be
Southern California. Out there you’ve got the hills and
there are two Metal Mulisha compounds out there
now as well. Then when I’m back home in Wagga
Wagga (Australia) I ride Jacko Strong’s compound
and then mine and Truman Carroll’s compound.
What’s the freeride scene like in Australia? Do you
have the terrain for it over there?
In Australia we don’t have the best freeride spots. I
don’t know what it is, our country is huge but we just
haven’t found the right spots. The dirt over there is
really dry and sandy too, so it doesn’t hold up very
well and it can be super hard to build with.
Ah, I’m not going to comment too much about his
firework accident. He’s doing good though. He’s
actually got a bit of a skin graft on his leg, so it’s
going to take him a bit of time to get over it but
Jacko’s a strong, determined kid – he’ll be back!
When you first started riding who were the guys
70 | FreestyleXtreme
Rob going big in
Osaka 2013
p. Predrag Vuckovic
You mentioned Jacko Strong – how’s he doing
after his accident with the fireworks? Were you
there? Do you know what he was trying to make?