WA surfer Bronte Macaulay hopes her run at the Margaret River Pro can spur her back onto the tour full-time

It wasn’t a fairytale finish for local favourite Bronte Macaulay in Margaret River. But a third straight semifinal at the event just down the road from where she learned to surf has her fired up to re-earn her full-time place on the World Surf League’s elite tour. “It is a really big motivator doing well at this event,” Macaulay told The West Australian after bowing out of the Margaret River Pro on Friday to eventual winner Carissa Moore. “Just being in that competitive environment. I really feel like I have enjoyed the week and I enjoyed being on tour so I definitely want to try to get back there. “This week felt like I could have surfed a lot better ... and if I could put a full contest together I could really get a big result.” The daughter of WA surfing legend Dave Macaulay, who won the Margaret River Pro in 1989, the 29-year-old from Gracetown first competed on the championship tour as an injury replacement in 2016 before becoming a full-time competitor the next year. But after missing the cut and falling off the main tour last year despite a third-place finish in Margaret River, she was forced to qualify for this year’s event through the local trials two weeks ago. Her semifinal result made it three straight third-place finishes at her home event, having taken out plenty of big names along the way. In the past she’s beaten five-time world champion Moore, eight-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore and French star Johanne Defay. This year, as a wildcard, Macaulay twice beat Molly Picklum, who came in ranked No.1 in the world. But despite her magic run to the semifinals, Macaulay said she felt she was still searching for her very best form. “Still being able to get some wins even if you feel like you could have done better is a positive,” she said. “It is a pretty fine margin, I feel like wave selection is big and for me just consistency and just trying to surf the way I do. I still have things to improve on even from this week. I have things I’ve noted down to try and get better. “Surfing really is just trying to get in rhythm with the good waves at the end of the day.” In her loss to Moore on Friday, Macaulay appeared hampered by a knee problem. She later revealed she was competing with a grade one tear of her MCL, picked up in Sunday’s quarterfinal. It means she will be working hard to recover in time for her next event in a week at Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast. “I didn’t really surf this week and just did quite a bit of physio but still felt a bit stiff today and it was a bit hard to surf the way I wanted to surf,” she said. “Today didn’t really go the way I wanted, I didn’t really have a good heat at all, but that happens a lot in surfing. I’m happy to make semifinals and there was still some good moments in the week.” “For me, I’m trying to re-qualify so the challenger series is pretty important. I want to get it (my knee) all good before Snapper and give it a good crack.” Moore was left in no doubt about Macaulay’s chances of making it back to the championship tour after their hard-fought heat. “Bronte is such a talented surfer,” she said. “I truly believe she belongs on the championship tour.” But to belong again, Macaulay needs points, starting at Snapper Rocks.