Josh Hogg was stumped for an outfit. Last year he had set the bar high for sartorial elegance at Mulletfest, in NSW's Hunter region, with an eye-catching pair of gold silk shorts, sunnies and black thongs.
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What to wear this year?
When The Advertiser had spoken to him the week before the event, he had no idea what his outfit would be and was starting to feel the pressure. But fear not.
His partner Keri came to the rescue. She had spotted a superhero outfit that she thought might work - green and gold, a cape, all very classy - and from there, Josh did the rest ... sweatband, old footy socks and the obligatory sunglasses.
And, of course, the mullet.
"Mediocre Mullet Man was born," Josh said. "I workshopped the name with Keri too. When we came up with it, I just knew it was right. It worked a treat, especially with my beer gut poking through."
READ MORE: Fifty photos: all the fun of Mulletfest 2021
It's history now that he won best overall mullet, a decision that clearly has left him stumped.
"There were some great mullets," he said. "I'm not sure mine was best. I think that my outfit and ridiculous carryings-on might have had a bit to do with it. You'd have to ask the judges."
Ironically Josh had his hair cut a few weeks before the event and wasn't too impressed.
"I thought they'd taken a bit much off. Two inches off the bottom I reckon, but there you go. What would I know?"
All up the reinvented Mulletfest 2021, in Kurri Kurri, attracted 143 entries - down from 258 in COVID-free 2020 - but for organiser Laura Johnston, that was the only area they were down.
"It was a brilliant, funny three days," she said. "Mulletfest is always fun, has been from day one, but I reckon with COVID everyone really went out of their way to just enjoy themselves. The mood was fabulous."
Her concerns about reduced crowd numbers were not an issue.
"Overall we got about 2000 people through over the three days which was great," she said. "The venue was limited to 410 people at a time, but the most we had in was 374 which means we didn't have to turn anybody away."
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This year's winners will now represent NSW against the champions from other States, hopefully in November.
Laura said the response had been so strong from interstate towns hoping to host Mulletfest that she had been forced to close applications.
"Now we have to sit down and work out where to hold each of those state events."
But back at Kurri, NSW champ Mediocre Mullet Man awaits. Will he wear the same outfit, or is it back to the gold silk shorts? Or maybe something new altogether?
Who knows? Mediocre Mullet Man doesn't rush these things.