The introduction of the mid-season cut has been met with varied responses from fans. The most notable potential advantage was the element of added intrigue that it brings in the early stages of the season, and there’s no doubt that it achieved that, particularly at the Margaret River Pro when a huge number athletes had a spot in the second half of the tour to surf for. The downside, however, was always going to be the potential for big names to miss the second half of the season, with only the top ten women and top 22 men advancing. And while there weren’t as many of these casualties as there could have been, there were still a number of big names who failed to finish above the cut line. Let’s take a look at some of them.