We would’ve delivered the 2020 Red Bull Skate of Origin edition this year, but due to the pandemic, this year’s event has been put on ice until travel restrictions ease. For now, enjoy the New South Wales team’s article from Slam 223 about the “Cockroaches” crushing Queensland’s “Cane Toads” and the “Dogs” from Victoria. We’ll be back in 2021 when the three states battle it out again for the $10k cash from Red Bull.
Words by Nat Kassel. Photos by Sam Coady.
Canberra’s biggest hill is the ominously named ‘Black Mountain Tower’. One of the challenges was to bomb the long and windy asphalt road that runs about a kilometre from top to bottom. Only one skater had to do it, but the NSW team decided they would all step up to the hefty hill. Noah ended up copping some road rash and Jack O’Grady lead the charge as The Cockroaches descended the Black Mountain hill at high speed.
“It was amazing and horrible,” said Dane Burman of the week that was Skate of Origin, 2019. Specifically, he was talking about the book of challenges that we’d put together, many of which were stabs in the dark about what was possible and what wasn’t. He explained, “It’s fun for new ideas for things you’d normally not think you could do, but when you’re a few hours deep on a trick that isn’t all that fun, then it gets horribly torturous.”
But even if Dane thought parts of it were “horribly torturous”, he and the boys from NSW were playing to win. And when it came to putting together a team of five solid skateboarders to represent The Blues, NSW looked strong from the get-go. Between Dane, Jake Hayes and Jack O’Grady, they had three SOTYs from the Shire. Then there was Rob Pace, a young and hungry Central Coast rail chomper, and Noah Nayef, a 17-year- old prodigy from Western Sydney. Throw in filmer, driver and team captain, George Kousoulis, and the team’s first-choice photographer, Sam Coady, and NSW was ready for war.
Even as they were jammed into a tiny eight-seater van and instructed to make the trek from Sydney to Canberra with their luggage on their laps, it was evident that the NSW team would be a force to reckoned with. They seemed to have a good mix of experience, skill, hunger and sobriety. And in the end, they had just enough to take home the $10,000 prize money. But it wasn’t without considerable effort, tactics, and man-hours in the streets.
Dane Burman pulled this airwalk down 10 earning three strange claps from Squish and Scoady.
RULES OF THE GAME
As far as the rules went, the game of Skate of Origin was pretty straightforward. Each team had a van, a photographer, a filmer, lights, a generator and a book of trick challenges. The tricks in the book were worth points, plus each skater could do an individual trick of their own choice for a maximum of 200 points. Then there was also a 500-point bonus for the team who came out with the best clip. The general idea was to bring the best out in everyone while pulling together some interesting and unorthodox footage for an epic team clip. We wanted people to try stuff that they probably wouldn’t have ever tried without some prompting from the book. But, we also tried to create challenges that would be doable and fun and that would make for good footage.
Wallie a teammate – our 2019 SOTY from the Shire wallies the 2010 SOTY from the Shire. There must be something in the water out there.
This six-stair rail in Canberra’s CBD is pretty high, but then again, Jake Hayes has no shortage of pop. He stomped this kickflip front board first shot and rolled away from it second try.
THE LITTLE VAN
While the Queensland and Vic teams flew to Canberra and were picked up from the airport in their team vans, the NSW team picked up their van in Sydney and made the trek down to Canberra by road. Despite the fact that we’d hired three identical vans, NSW somehow ended up with a smaller van than the other two teams. They also happened to have the biggest generator, plus all of their luggage, meaning that they were forced to squeeze in for the road trip with their luggage on their laps. Squished in like sardines, the NSW dudes kept their eyes on the prize and got shit done. The little van couldn’t slow them down.
UNDERCOVER TRANNY LORDS
“Do you know what the first trick of the whole trip was?” Scoady asked me, not waiting for an answer. “It was Noah’s padless 540 in Belco Bowl. Not many people knew it, but he was our undercover tranny lord.” While everyone on Team NSW has firmly made their mark on Australian skateboarding, they’re all skateboarders who are best known for what they can do in the streets. However, it would be a mistake to underestimate the tranny game that came out in the Belco Bowl. All five of them managed to get a trick over the channel. Then there was Squish’s [Jack O’Grady] frontside flip, Dane’s backside ollie from the platform over the channel and in, and Squish and Dane’s tidy doubles line. In fact, there was a lot of undercover tranny lordery. And then there was the Kambah U-Pipe.
Noah Nayef kicked off day one with a padless 540 in Belco bowl, revealing his low-key tranny lordery. He’s still blocked from Dane’s Instagram though.
HELLFIRE IN KAMBAH U-PIPE
The first day I spent with the NSW team was day three, Anzac Day. We loaded into their van in search of a café, only to get stuck amongst the foot traffic of the local Anzac Day parade. With limited breakfast options due to the public holiday, we grabbed a Macca’s breakfast, which was to be followed by lunch at a servo and KFC for dinner. Eating anything decent clearly wasn’t a priority. NSW simply didn’t want to waste any time that could be spent at spots. There were points to be stacked, a competition to win.
The NSW team’s hunger became immediately clear at Kambah U-Pipe, a ridiculously steep relic of Australian skatepark design with no flat bottom at all. To make things even more difficult, the U-Pipe was filled with a puddle of muddy leaves and water when we arrived. Dane got straight down there with a broom, sweeping as much of it out as he possibly could. But even with the leaves and branches out of the way, it was still too wet and muddy to be skated. Squish fetched a few plastic bag loads of bark from a nearby playground, which was then poured into the puddle and swept around in an attempt to dry it. But that still wasn’t enough. It was time to bust out the jerrycan and light the fucker on fire.
Dane poured what looked to me like a lot of petrol into the bottom of the pipe and lit it. As soon as it caught, I thought to myself, We’ve fucked up here. As the flames went up, plumes of black smoke came billowing out. It was a pretty windy day and the smoke blew straight onto a nearby housing development. It was also a public holiday, and the U-Pipe is right in the middle of a park, so a bunch of kids and a few parents ran over to see the fire. But within a minute, the petrol burned away, drying up the concrete perfectly and making the thing almost instantly skateable. It didn’t take long at all for Squish to put together a five trick line, punctuated by a frontside ollie (150 points). Then Dane managed an ollie over the channel – for the GT Challenge – into the skinny bit to fakie, which I would have thought was impossible until he rolled away.
It was only a few months prior to Skate of Origin that Grant Taylor had dominated the Kambah U-Pipe and done a proper frontside ollie from the skinny strip over this channel. We created the GT Challenge in his honour, wondering if anyone else would be able to cross the channel. Dane proved it was possible to go the other way, ollieing over to fakie into the skinny strip.
When everyone was sure that the other challenges set for the u-pipe weren’t happening, Dane got back down into the pipe with the broom, spreading the water and mud and leaves back around the concrete in order to sabotage the other teams. Scoady pissed in it, just for good measure.
This hefty wheelchair ramp contained the added challenge of a long, uphill run up. Jake was forced to push about 100 metres up the path in order to gather the speed to launch this big ol’ backside 180 over the bar for his Trick of Choice. He also took on the mullet challenge.
SCOADY IS DOWN FOR LIFE
Often it’s the youngest grom who cops shit from the older fellas, but not always. With the NSW team, their affable photographer adopted the role of proverbial punching bag and butt of all jokes. Whether Scoady was getting lashed for making everyone wait while he packed up his camera gear; for not wearing shoes into the grossest KFC with the stickiest floor you’ve ever seen; for inviting Victoria and Queensland over for late night beers while the New South Wales team was trying to sleep; or for the length of his neck, Scoady copped shit from his NSW brethren.
But if there was one way to earn everybody’s respect and admiration, it was to get some points on the board for Team NSW. Scoady was determined to do his part. But he didn’t just want points, he wanted to score more points than NSW filmer, George Kousoulis. His first tactic was to jump into Lake Burley Griffin (50 points) and then to get a state-related tattoo (another 50 points). The Team NSW tatt was particularly impressive because he decided on a cup with a #1 on it, declaring NSW the winners just four days into the trip. I wasn’t around when he got the tatt, but I’d like to think that he got some kind of glorious redemption and respect from all. I can just imagine everyone backslapping him, telling him what a legend he was for scoring the points. Maybe he got to ride shotgun in the van for a day. Maybe Dane bought him a longneck of stout as a way to say thanks. Maybe everyone took a moment to tell him how much they respect him as a skate- photographer. Or maybe not. Either way, it’s a great tatt. In the end, though, George pulled out a perfect Cab flip down six stairs (100 points) in just a few goes, as well as a no-comply frontside wallride down four (75 points), ultimately earning more points for team NSW than Scoady.
ROB’S FEEBLE
This long feeble pop-over was a little bit of a mindfuck for Rob. It wasn’t that it was particularly difficult for him, in fact, he was locking into feebles pretty much every go. The only problem was that he kept popping out a little bit earlier than he wanted to. “I want to grind all the way down to the gate,” he said in frustration, waxing the fuck out of the rail and trudging up the steep driveway for another shot. He must have rolled away from about eight feebles before he decided that he didn’t want to waste any more time on it. He didn’t even really seem satisfied when we piled back into the van and headed for the next spot. But the footage doesn’t lie. He grinded the fuck out of this rail for his Trick of Choice.
Rob Pace’s feeble had it all: a long grind, a stylish ninja crouch and a comfy pop over into the driveway. Somehow, he still wasn’t satisfied with it though. You’re tripping, Rob – this feeble was proper.
WATCHING DANE SKATE THE LONG FLATBAR
Watching Dane skate the long car park rail was incredible. Sure, it’s just a long knee-height flatbar, and a lot of people could probably skate it really well. But I was blown away by the way Dane was so consistently and easily able to do so many tricks on it. He did a full-length boardslide and a back 50-50 pretty easily, then battled a crooks for a while, for the longest crooks challenge. But he also got a boardslide lay forward onto another board; a back 50-50 while holding hands with Squish; and a browneye boady with the words ‘FUCK VIC’ written on his arse – keep your eyes peeled for the raw footage. Not only did he make it all look easy, he made it all look fun.
Dane could also shut down the fun. This was made clear one night when a bunch of the Victorians and Queenslanders popped over to the New South Wales cabin for beers. Scoady was playing host, but the rest of the NSW team was in bed trying to sleep. Dane, who doesn’t drink, wasn’t down for the noisy shindig, so he came out and told Scoady how it was. “[Scoady] invited everyone from other teams to come party in our cabin when everyone on our team was trying to sleep,” said Dane. “It got to a point where someone had to be the dad and shut the party down or move it to another cabin, so I was the guy. I’m already the sober, angry guy, so I guess that’s the role I was born to play.” Scoady’s side of the story went something like this: “Dane’s just a grumpy old dad.”
DANE VS NOAH
At 17-years-old, Noah Nayef was the youngest on the trip. In fact, he was still in high school and Skate of Origin was literally how he spent his school holidays. At one point, Dane said to Noah, “I don’t know anything about you, but you seem like one of the biggest mama’s boys I’ve ever met.” Noah just shrugged and replied, “What’s wrong with that?” Apparently, Dane and Noah had some Instagram beef before going into the trip. “He tried to be cheeky on my Instagram and rather than feed into it, I got rid of him,” Dane explained. “More fun that way. I love blocking people.”
Scoady said that there was a running joke on the trip where if Noah landed a trick and scored some points, Dane would maybe unblock him. But Dane said this wasn’t really on the cards: “Scoady kept trying to throw it out there, but it was never happening. I’m a stubborn cunt when I want to be.” When Noah landed the tré flip over the bump to bench at Lyneham, someone asked if he wanted to ride shotgun in the van for a bit. “Nah, it’s OK. I’m fine in the back,” he said. “Can I put on a trap song though?” Everybody groaned, but Noah was granted access to the Bluetooth. Within about 20-seconds of his trap song though, Dane turned it off. I asked Dane if he and Noah have made peace via Instagram. “He’s still blocked. He’s gonna stay there.”
This 50-50 across and down was gnarly. It’s such a balls to the wall spot. When Dane was asked if he thought this 50-50 was the best trick he got, he said, “Maybe. Or maybe the backside flip nosegrind on the quarter.” Either way, this photo was his Trick of Choice.
THE RED BULL CAR CHALLENGE
On day four, the Red Bull Car Challenge was going down. All three teams were instructed to meet up at a spot near the university where a Red Bull car was parked next to a loading dock. The deal was that each team had to get five tricks over the car for 100 points each. After spending 12 and 15-hour days skating for four days in a row, a lot of people were tired, or hungover, or both. But Team NSW was looking comparatively fresh and ready to handle business.
Dane kicked things off with a front shove, a fastplant on the car can and a manny on the roof, then Jake unleashed his monster pop with a massive bigspin, a switch heel and a big ol’ kicky over the can and for the best trick award. “Do we need to hang around?” George asked after the tricks had been fired off and the points had been banked. “Because Team New South Wales has got spots to hit.” Queensland and Victoria were still passing a footy around, drinking beers and catching up when NSW jumped in their van and got the fuck out of there.
The Red Bull girls said they didn’t quite know what they were in for when they got the memo to drive to this loading dock near the university. They found 25 rowdy dudes with skateboards lurking around a corner. They handled it well, and Jake handled this extra large kicky over the Red Bull can pretty well, too.
BELCO TRIPLE SET
Getting a trick that’s never been done down the Belco Triple set was going to require some creativity. It’s such a classic Canberra spot where so many tricks have gone down over the years. To get a regular flip trick down the set seemed like a very difficult proposition. Luckily for NSW, they were able to find a broken off handrail in some bushes. While the team held it in place over the triple, Rob managed a front Smith and a front crooks for a coupla Belco Triple NBDs. Satisfied they’d scored the points, the fellas went back and stashed the rail in the bushes so that no other team would find it and copy their idea. Then, right on cue, the Victorian van pulled up. By the time Bryce Golder was sizing up the set for some creativity of his own, NSW were out of there and onto the next spot.
Rob pinched this front crooks while Team NSW dutifully held the rail in place for a creative NBD at the Belco Triple Set.
Getting a switch trick at the Flags Gap was one of the challenges that every team managed to conquer. But Noah not only stepped it up with a switch flip, he boned the fuck out of it.
After knocking off a nosegrind tailgrab with ease, Jack O’Grady had no problem turning his body that little bit further for a noseblunt tailgrab down this handrail for the “any blunt grab variation” category.
Jack grabs his nose over The Blues on the massive Belco double set for an NBD.
SOTY AND MVP
Squish rocked up to Skate of Origin with a black eye after taking a heavy hit to the noggin while skating before the trip. But that didn’t slow him down a bit. He stepped up valiantly to a whole bunch of challenges (and slams), eventually scoring the most points of any skater from any team and earning himself the Skate of Origin MVP award. Between earning himself New Gen of the Year in 2018, Slam SOTY in 2019 and MVP on Skate of Origin, Squish is on a dead set rampage.
Watch the NSW team video HERE.
