Italo boosted a massive air to get the win over Griffin Colapinto. Photo: WSL Despite being a replacement event, the surfing hotbed of Newcastle has provided plenty of highlights as the World Surf League gets back underway with its Australian tour. Day Three from the Rip Curl Newcastle Cup is in the books, and with finals day on the near horizon (next call is just three hours away), we’ve already seen plenty of pressure-beating rides, upsets, and the wait has paid off as the surf is now absolutely cookin’. For those who haven’t been glued to their screens like I have the past few days, let’s start at the beginning. From the second day on, Newcastle proved to be interesting. The round of 32 saw a major upset with local rookie Morgan Cibilic taking out the then rankings leader John John Florence. And he didn’t just eek out a win against John. He beat him soundly, using his local knowledge of the unpredictable and tricky beachbreak conditions to throw down an 8.1 and a 9.03 against John’s 7.83 and 5.33.