At the time, Duncombe was still attending school and, after a short period skateboarding with SMP in Sydney, he relocated with his father to Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
[1] After the founding of Criminal Skateboards by Sydney skateboarder Glen Scott, Duncombe was recruited by Scott and he joined the team, which also included Andrew Currie, Kerry Fisher and Jim Fowlie,[2] on a tour of Canberra, Australia.
Duncombe explained in a 2014 interview with Scott that he believed he was accepted by the older Criminal team because of his willingness to drink a similar level of alcohol.
Scott, who was also involved with the SMP brand, oversaw Duncombe's first international tours to New Zealand and Europe.
[1] Duncombe competed at the 2003 World Cup in Melbourne, Australia, at the age of 14 years, and placed second, prior to appearing in the 2004 video Northern Lights.
[1] With six sponsors supporting him and a crowd of 15,000 spectators watching, Duncombe also competed at the 2004 World Cup but did not proceed past the first round.
[7] After nine years with Blind[4] and a similarly lengthy period with the Globe footwear brand, Duncombe parted ways with both sponsors over 2012 and 2013.
Duncombe explained in a December 2013 interview that his pay cheques from Blind progressively lessened, as new younger riders joined the team, and his contract finally ended along with other older team riders, such as Craig and Jake Brown.
A massive year of ripping in Europe and the USA, and this heavy debut international part in the Blind video, What If?, made Jake the undisputed winner.