Adam Melling, the name doesn't carry the cache that say Joel Parkinson or Taj Burrow does, or even Bede Durbidge for that matter, but truth be told, he's just as dangerous as the lot of them, maybe more so. Without garnering much fanfare, and little to no media hype, the quiet Lennox Head local has evolved into the quintessential ASP World Tour dark horse.

At the Quiksilver Pro he started the year off by beating Joel Parkinson and Dane Reynolds in his round one heat. That was certainly attention grabbing. He subsequently lost to Julian Wilson in round three, but has made good use of the Australian leg. He's finished ninth in both the Australian Open and the Burton Toyota Pro, which concluded in Newcastle this weekend. Consistent results like this would indicate good things to come at Bells in a couple week -- especially when you consider that in years prior he's won two Cold Water Classic events (in New Zealand in 2011 and Scotland in 2009), and last winter he managed a third place result at the Vans World Cup at Sunset and second at the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa.

We caught up with Melling this winter to try and find out a little bit more about what makes the man tick. You may not see his name in lights, and he may not get a lot of spreads in the magazines, but like I said, he's dangerous.