In a recent interview posted on his blog, Joel Parkinson said "...being world number one coming into Tahiti isn't all beer and skittles because you generally get Manoa." Quite a compliment to hear coming from Parko, that he'd rather not be leading the world title race, just because it means facing Tahitian wildcards like Manoa Drollet. "You know you're going to get Manoa or Heiarii and they know the place so well its going to be hard. I've been beaten by wildcards so many times it's not funny." 
Tahitian born Manoa Drollet has been the standout surfer at Teahupoo for years, winning the Von Zipper Trials in 2005 and 2007, and has beaten just about everyone at his home break.
In 2008 he beat Kelly Slater in round 3 on his way to making the final in the event, eventually placing second behind Bruno Santos. His freesurfing antics at Teahupoo are legendary, as evidenced by the news clip below.
In the same interview, Parko went on to say "..the Tahitian guys thrive when the guy they surf against doesn't know their spot as well as them, they sense it and they lift." This was very evident this year as Manoa took out current ratings leader Jordy Smith in round 3 with critical wave selection and confident tube rides. That performance came the day after he did the exact same thing to current world number 2 Taj Burrow in round 2. Both heats saw Drollet display patience and superior wave selection to pick off the best tubes on offer. The fact is, Manoa wouldnt stand a chance in a heat against Kelly, Taj, or Jordy if it came down to performance, and he knows that. Luckily, Teahupoo is a wave that is scored on the tube, so performance is often secondary. All the turns in the world arent going to beat a gaping Teahupoo pit.
Some have even argued that wildcards should be done away with or at least seeded differently, as it creates a severe disadvantage to the top seeded surfers. Many tour stops have local wildcards that almost always cause problems for the top seeds: Adam Robertson at Bells, Sean Holmes at J-bay, Manoa at Tahiti, and the entire pipeline posse in Hawaii. Would you rather surf against Marco polo or Jamie O'brien at Pipeline? Silly question, but at Pipeline the local specialists are seeded just below the lowest ranked surfer on tour. Since the system is designed to reward the top surfers by always matching them with the lowest seeds in the round, the system is inherently flawed if the last 2 seeded surfers are as dangerous as anyone in the entire event. When it comes to the top surfers leading the points race going into events such as Tahiti and especially Pipeline, such wildcard matchups can mean the world title. On the other hand, the local surfers do deserve the right to surf their home break when the circus comes to town. Either way, the point is: try not to draw Manoa Drollet at Teahupoo.
