As one of nine Australian men set to line up in the season-opening Bells Beach event, Liam O'Brien says surfers are embracing the revamped World Surf League competition format.
Eight locals have qualified for the 2026 Championship Tour (CT), while "wonderkid" Dane Henry has been granted a wildcard into the men's draw at Bells, with the competition window opening on April 1.
Tweed Heads surfer Henry, 19, will make his CT debut after he won gold at the ISA World Surfing Games, then claimed the WSL world junior title.
O'Brien was the last surfer to qualify for the elite world tour, the Queenslander facing a nervous wait after making an early exit at this month's Challenger Series event in Newcastle.
"It was a pretty average week to be honest - I didn't get a lot of sleep," the 26-year-old told AAP.
"I was sitting in ninth place going into the event on the ratings, with the top 10 qualifying, and I was looking at a quarter-final or better to give myself a stronger chance at qualifying.
"Then that plan went completely out the window when I lost the first heat and just had to sit and watch on as everyone further down the ranks competed to try and chase down my points, but I got very lucky and managed to hang on in 10th spot."
O'Brien's girlfriend Sophie McCulloch endured a similarly testing time, only to miss qualifying by two spots, with just seven women advancing through the cut-throat Challenger Series.
O'Brien, who made his CT debut in 2021, missed the 2025 mid-season cut, with the men's line-up reduced to 22 after seven events.
But in its 50th year, with the tour start pushed back to April from January, the cut will come after the ninth stop.
Those surfers will only miss two events before returning for the tour finale - the Pipe Masters in Hawaii in December.
"It just offers a lot more of a fairer chance for everyone and just a better rounded list of venues as well, so everyone will get to show their different skill-sets as the year goes on," O'Brien said.
"The old system was what it was and everyone knew what they were signing up for, but it was just challenging when you were in a bit of a slump for a few events, and then it was sort of all over before you knew it.
"It will be nice to have the full year to really put a campaign together."
Australians Jack Robinson and Isabella Nichols will defend their Bells crowns, with the window at the famed Victorian break running until April 11.
Reigning world champion Molly Picklum will gun for her first Bells title, with the best finish by the NSW Central Coast superstar runner-up in 2023.
