okay watched the vid again, this is what I saw: I just noted down the major turns, the one's I think are important. Before I start I have to admit I wanted Baden to win, then an Australian - preferably one riding a Parkes
Wave 1) Matt G nice bottom turn, nice top turn, nice bottom nice top turn but stalls here as wave fills up and paddles to keep on wave
2) Barry on left - falls on the re-o
3) barry second wave small and nothing much
4) Gavin coleman nice bottom trun, falls on the reo
5) Baden - biggest wave of the heat???????two nice snapss off the top : as an aside, watch the speed out of Baden's first bottom turn and tell me what you see
6) Barry nice snap, nice forceful roundhouse cutty
7) Gavin coleman hard snap off the top, more under the lip than Badens, couple more hard turns
8 ) Matt hard off the bottom straight into a high risk re-o, straight into another bottom turn, then a high risk re-0 lots of board above the wall -and falls - could have been the highest scoring wave except for the fall
9) Barry small nondescript wave with some unladlylike full cutty snaps thingos
10) Matt gets stuck behind the foam, does a foam bounce, some nice hard turns later, nothing high risk
11) Barry_ same as his last wave but quicker and faster
12) Gavin_ great high risk re-o off the first bottom turn, some reverse direction coming down, handles it at the bottom - best re-o of the final - but that''s alll - couldn't call it a heat winner
13) Matt fast great snap off the top, good grinding cutty, then again but we miss the rest of this wave as the camera pans to:
14) Barry- high risk re-o good vertical off the first bottom turn, grinds into the second re-o - but the wave goes full - at same place where Matts first wave stalled - with these two moves I'd call it the best wave of the heat.
15) Matty- medium sized wave - rips three high snaps off - continues down the line - great wave - too mechanical tho?
Conclusions
If Barry had a good backup wave to follow up his wave 14 then I'd give the final to him.
Matt seemed to have the best all round waves. I'd call him the winner.
Gavin's re-o in wave 12 is definitely the best re-o of the heat - but that's all there is in this wave. This is the equivalanet of MG wave no 8 - though of course Matt falls.
Gavin's wave no 7 is one of the best 3 waves in the final, though I'd call it the equal of Matt's 15.
And Baden, ... oh for where for art though Baden
of copurse if I watch the vid again I'll see it all differently
there you have it from an armchair judge