MEREWETHER'S Ryan Callinan has declared he would rather win the Newcastle Cup at his home break than any other event on surfing's World Championship Tour.
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"This one will be pretty special for me," Callinan told the Newcastle Herald on Wednesday.
"Just to have everyone here, and as we've seen in the past with the [World Qualifying Series] events we've had here, to get a win here would be super special.
"To get a win here, with the home crowd cheering, I think that would top every other win for me."
Equal ninth on the international rankings, the goofy-footer has competed numerous times at Merewether, but this will be his first top-tier event in his home waters, after the contest was relocated from Victoria's Bells Beach because of coronavirus concerns.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes told a press conference on Wednesday she hopes to reinstate Newcastle as an annual stop-off on the elite tour, as it was back in the halcyon days of the BHP Steel International.
Callinan enthusiastically endorsed that proposal.
"I think we have a location that everyone really likes to coming to," Callinan said.
"The waves probably aren't as consistently world-class as some of the other stops on tour that they prefer to go to, but it can definitely be good on its day, and I think this week should definitely showcase what we can do.
"And sometimes it's not about the waves, it's about the vibe around the event, and this place really knows how to do that."
Callinan will open his campaign with a first-round heat against American Griffin Colapinto and Italy's Leonardo Fioravanti.
"You're always going to be competing against someone good, in every round," Callinan said. "You've got to beat them all to win."
Callinan is scheduled to start in heat 10. His Merewether clubmate, wildcard Jackson Baker, faces a daunting challenge in heat six, coming up against 2019 world champion Italo Ferreira, of Brazil, and rising Western Australian Jack Robinson. Adopted Novocastrian Julian Wilson faces fellow Aussies Wade Carmichael and Ethan Ewing,
In the women's event, Newcastle wildcard Philippa Anderson faces four-time world champion Carissa Moore, of Hawaii, and American Sage Erickson in heat three.
