As he comes out of retirement for a one-off cameo appearance, Mick Fanning knows he's entering a World Surf League tour where the Brazilian storm is now at full-strength.
The three-time world champion will compete in the Narrabeen event from Friday in his first appearance since leaving the tour in 2018.
In his absence Brazil's big three of Gabriel Medina, Italo Ferreira and Filipe Toledo have become the tour's dominant force.
At last week's Newcastle Cup, defending world champion Ferreira defeated Medina in an all-Brazil final with the South American nation providing five of the quarter-finalists at Merewether Beach.
"We battened down the hatches before the storm came right in," Fanning told AAP.
"They're incredible. I've got a lot of respect for Gabe, Italo and Felipe.
"The surfing they're doing is incredible and you can't really worry too much. You've just got to go out and concentrate on yourself.
"It's something I always did and hopefully that works in my favour if it comes to it but at the end of the day they're incredible surfers and they're on top of the world right now. They're extremely hard to beat."
Fanning, 39, says entering the Narrabeen event is a definite one-off and not part of a wider comeback to competitive surfing.
While his original plan was to return at beloved Bells Beach, where he rang the prized bell four times during his career, he admits his competitive juices are starting to flow ahead of the competition window opening on Friday.
"I'm always going to be a competitor at heart." he said.
"You don't want to lose but it's a bit different these days rather than back in the day when it felt like your whole world revolved around making the heat.
"No expectations mate. I'll be stoked if I get down the beach."
Ferreira will head to Narrabeen with the tour leader's yellow jersey in the men after his Newcastle triumph while American Carissa Moore leads the women's rankings after her dominant win at Merewether.
