Ronnie Blakey alluded to John John Florence being injured on the finals day post-show yesterday, tonight, it looks as if these rumours are unfortunately true.

John Florence is injured and most likely out.

Details aren't yet officially confirmed, but a reliable source has informed Stab that John injured both his ACL and LCL while surfing after being eliminated from the event.

Initially, the injury looked as if it might only keep John John out of the Margaret River make-up at Uluwatu, leaving him with a Round 3 finish back in April and Mikey Wright with a walkthrough into Round 4 in the next few days.

The injury now appears worse than expected. It looks as if John John will be out of competition for the foreseeable future and potentially the remainder of the year – leaving the door open for John to take the injury wildcard for 2019, leaving himself, Kelly Slater and Caio Ibelli fighting for the two spots typically awarded as injury wildcards.

Despite the injury, John is still currently residing near Uluwatu on the Indonesian island with the rest of the Johntourage.

As has been well documented by ourselves, the WSL and every awkward post-heat interview with John thus far, he's had an uncharacteristically poor start to his 2018.

Topics have revolved around everything from a lack of confidence, to a slump in form, but more than anything, it looks as if John has lost competitive drive – the confidence and form are there. The sheer luck and interest are not.

And one reported demotivater for John's lack of competitive interest this year is (un)surprisngly the hassling incident with Zeke at Bells.

Zeke was a childhood friend of John, and as much as the 'excessive hassling' took many watching by surprise, it has also reportedly taken a toll on John himself.

The WSL is persistently focussed on the incident, Zeke evidently is (after his Instagram post) and other competitors are treating John differently since the occurrence. It isn't so much the incident itself that's affected John, but the aftermath.

While the thought of seeing John focus on video output is enticing, seeing him progress surfing on the webcast is tough to beat.

Stab wishes John all the best in recovery and hope to see him back on the podium – where he belongs – after a (hopefully) short hiatus.