March 2024 - King Sports International

Forever 59

March 15, 2024/by Ian King

This weekend, in the rural Victorian (AUS) town of Wonthaggi, athletes will be suiting up, warming up, and putting their best efforts out there in Round 1 of the Australian MX National Championships. In most years this would just be another season start. However, this event is made more significant because it was at this same round just over twelve months ago that a 20-year-old Queensland-based MX rider paid the ultimate price.

It will be a challenging weekend for all who are connected to the memory of Bradyen’s fatal crash so recently.

Brayden Erbacher’s passing was a tragedy. These tragedies are not restricted to any one sport or individual. The last fatal accident during competition in The Pro motocross championship was the loss of Andrew McFarlane who passed away after crashing at Broadford on May 2nd, 2010.[1]

All elite-level athletes to varying degrees relate to and share the risk-reward challenge of sport, and have immediate empathy for athletes such as Brayden, their family and friends. But what about the sport? Does the sport care enough to honour the legacy of the athlete in moments such as this?

This article reflects on the way motocross (MX) globally has shown they care, and that Brayden will not be forgotten. And in sharing this one-year report card on the sport of MX, I trust that it adds to the legacy of the racer.

Many organizations and individuals within the motocross community since that fateful moment on March 7, 2023, have acted in a way that deserves to be recognized. These include the following.

Brayden’s family
Motorcycling Australia
Rohan Jenkins
Hunter Lawrence
Sunshine State MX Series
The Kilcoy Motorcycle Club
The Manjimup Motor Cycle Club
Johnny Hopper
FIST
Thrilla
Brayden

NB. If anyone has been overlooked, I apologize – send me anything I have missed and I will update the article.:

Brayden’s family

Brayden Erbacher’s family bore the grief of losing Brayden Despite this the family had the courage to make statements very soon after:

The below statement was issued through Motorcycling Australia:

“The Erbacher Family would like to thank everyone at Racesafe including the paramedics, first responders and the riders and families that supported us.

“We are beyond proud to call Brayden our son and will be forever grateful for having him in our lives. He is our hero and will be greatly missed.”[2]

The following statement was issued through Channel Nine:

His mother Corinne, issued a statement to Nine News on behalf of the family which paid a loving tribute.

“We are shattered beyond words,” she told Nine News. “On behalf of the family, we would like to thank the whole motocross community for their support today while our whole world fell apart. “Brayden touched the lives of so many, and we were so proud to call him our son.[3]

You will see the family at the MX track every race, impeccably presented in clothing supporting Brayden’s legacy.

Motorcycling Australia

Motorcycling Australia, the official body of the sport in Australia, cancelled the event immediately after Brayden’s crash (keeping in mind the incident occurred in the first lap of the first moto in the MX2 Class), and issued the following statement the next day:

Official Statement on Brayen Erbacher

Motorcycling Australia, our ProMX Management Team and the wider motorcycling family are today united in grief at the passing of ProMX MX2 rider #59 Brayden Erbacher, who passed away as a result of injuries sustained in race one of Round One of the 2023 ProMX Championship.

Season 2023 was to be Brayden’s second year in the MX2 Championship, the pinnacle series for 250cc Four Stroke machines. Although a late starter in racing compared to some, Brayden had come to Wonthaggi from Queensland with his family and his Roo Systems Diesel Tuning Race Team to take on Australia’s best. His first ProMX campaign in 2022 had seen illness prevent him from competing for the full season, but a vigorous and productive off-season on the push bike, in the pool and in the gym had seen him return to full fitness and he noted “head is down, bum is up, plenty of work to be done…!” in anticipation of a full ProMX season in 2023.

Away from racing, Brayden was a likeable, handsome, and creative young man. He enjoyed his fishing, camping, and playing the guitar. In his own words, he liked “to keep things fun but I’m also a determined person and like a challenge.” In line with his cheeky nature, he said his career highlight to date was “beating Dan Reardon in a 125 race” and listed his hero growing up as US champion motocross racer Ryan Villopoto.

He also noted he was responsible for “making the #59 more famous than Dad ever did…”

While the ProMX Championship is the peak of Australian competition motocross, and our racing is close and often fiercely competitive, we are still a very close-knit community where friendships and camaraderie cross all bike brands, events and sponsors. Brayden’s passing has affected us all deeply.

Today we share the grief and sadness of Brayden’s family and reflect on a good life that was well-lived but tragically cut short. Our thoughts remain with his family and friends, but also with our own wider motocross and motorcycling family, our officials, volunteers, staff, partners, sponsors and of course the fans of this brilliant but occasionally cruel sport.

Motorcycling Australia will continue to co-operate with the relevant authorities as the investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident continue. We have offered unconditional cooperation and assistance in these matters.

Motorcycling Australia is assisting the Erbacher Family and Brayden’s team at this difficult time.

Rohan Jenkins

Rohan Jenkins set up a GoFundMe account within a week after the crash to support the family, which far exceeded the initial target set.[4]

The organiser of the fundraiser, Rohan Jenkins, wrote that ‘Brayden touched the lives of many, but none more so than his loving family. This fund is set up for friends, family, work colleagues and the wider community to support Ash, Corinne, Damon and Ellie during this difficult time,’ he wrote. [5]

Hunter Lawrence

Hunter is one of two brothers who may well become the greatest MX exports out of Australia. Hunter was 23 years old at the time of Erbacher’s passing, and from rthe same country. The weekend after Erbacher’s passing Hunter dedicated his 250SX East victory in Indianapolis to Brayden:

“We work so hard for these days and I want to dedicate this to a young Australian rider who lost their life recently, Brayden Erbacher – this one is for you buddy,” red plate-holder Lawrence said from the podium on Saturday evening. “I know you are over there keeping me safe on such a gnarly track.

“I didn’t personally know Brayden, but I can only imagine what his friends, family and the motocross industry back home are going through, so this one is for you and for all of your friends and family buddy – you were riding with me out there and kept me safe on a gnarly track. This one is for him.”[6]

Sunshine State MX Series

The Sunshine State MX Series, a series many pro riders use to prepare for the National Series, created a lap of honour for Brayden shortly after his crash, captured in this video.

The Kilcoy Motorcycle Club

The Kilcoy Motorcycle Club honoured Brayden’s memory later in 2023 with the naming of a ‘Memorial Club Championship Trophy’:

The Kilcoy Motocross Club has honoured the memory of club member Brayden Erbacher in its end of year presentation on Saturday, dedicating the Brayden Erbacher Memorial Club Championship Trophy.
Brayden’s family Corrine, Damon, Ellie and Brayden’s partner Emily, were there to present the Trophy which was won by 16-year-old Jet Doyle-Andrews. Jet was the club’s Mini Lites Big Wheel A grade overall champion and junior lites A grade overall champion, and was honoured to receive the award which carries the name of his friend. Brayden’s Mum Corrine thanked the motocross community for their love and support and for keeping Brayden’s memory alive.[7]

The Manjimup Motor Cycle Club

A MX club in the regional area of Manjimup, the Manjimup Motor Cycle Club, located 307km south of Perth in Western Australian, issued a statement post Brayden’s passing askin[8]g “…all competitors and attendees at the first round of the 2023 South West Championship Series to wear black armbands in Brayden’s memory. “For a sport that can bring great happiness and elation, it also comes with times of great heartbreak and sorrow,” the club said.

Johnny Hopper

US social media commentator and off-road racer Johnny Hopper dedicated a show to the legacy of Brayden and US racer Ryder Colvin.

Moto Limited

Moto Limited, ‘a moto-centric group of podcasts dedicated to reviewing Motocross and Supercross in the US and Australia’, remastered a show in honor of Brayden.

“This special podcast is in honour of an amazing human. Brayden Erbacher was one of those people that don’t come around very often. A genuine person that was full of character, always down for a good time, and very respectful. He would give his shirt off his back for anyone regardless of who you were.

Brayden did 5 shows and was an amazing cohost when he was in the studio. He was part of a lot of firsts here at the Moto Limited Show and Show 23 has been remastered as he was the first co-host on the first live show.

My thoughts go out to Ash, Corrine, Damon, Ellie, and the rest of his close friends and Family. I can’t believe he’s gone but he will never be forgotten. Rest Easy Mate.”

FIST

Australian handwear company FIST have produced and sell a glove they call the BRAYDEN59 Glove ‘Celebrating the life of Brayden Erbacher, with all proceeds going to the Erbacher Family.’

Thrilla

Australian BMX, MTB, and MX shirts, pants, accessories, and riding gear company Thrila have produced and sell a Brayden Tee titled ‘Honour Brayden’, where all proceeds go to the Erbacher Family)

Brayden

It would be remiss to leave Braydon out of the acknowledgement. Brayden’s contribution to his legacy is a combination of the who he was, the connections and impressions he made with and on others, his achievements, and the artefacts he created e.g. Instagram.

This post from younger brother Damon Erbacher gives insight into Brayden’s contribution;

“You were the best big brother and I looked up to you every single day. You guided me through life to this point and for that I’ll always be grateful,” the younger Erbacher said on Instagram.

“I’ll forever be grateful for the time spent with you, you always were my No. 1 role model and the way you carried yourself through life is an inspiration to many … You’ll be missed dearly. You’ll always be my big bro.”[9]

Conclusion

Risk is inherent in sport. This risk involved in sports could be placed on a continuum, however it is a constant. What is perhaps not as constant are the responses of a sport as a community to those times when risk causes loss. The aim of this article is to acknowledge the impressive way in which the Australian motocross community has responded to the death of one of its riders, both at the time and in the time since.

In my five decades of involvement in a wide range of sports at the highest level throughout the globe, I’ve had the opportunity to witness how sports and sports communities respond to tough times. I have been impressed with the way the sport of MX has supported the Erbacher family and honoured the legacy of Brayden through to the first anniversary of his passing.

Forever 59!

References

[1] https://www.fullnoise.com.au/fullnoise-news/queenslander-brayden-erbacher-dies-at-promx-opening-round/

[2] https://www.ma.org.au/official-statement-on-brayden-erbacher/

[3] https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/family-shattered-beyond-words-after-young-motocross-rider-dies-after-fall-20230305-p5cpla.html

[4] https://www.gofundme.com/f/brayden-erbacher

[5] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11856905/Motocross-rider-Brayden-Erbacher-GoFundMe-raises-thousands-mum-friends-pay-tribute.html

[6] https://www.motoonline.com.au/2023/03/13/lawrence-dedicates-indy-win-to-brayden-erbacher/

[7] https://www.mqld.org.au/kilcoy-club-honours-braydens-memory/

[8] https://www.triplem.com.au/story/shattered-beyond-words-tributes-flow-for-20-year-old-motocross-rider-killed-in-victorian-event-213769

[9] https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsport/motocross-rider-brayden-erbacher-20-killed-in-national-championships-tragedy/news-story/0f3eff35cc188a53ba848d8390e2ed96

A score of declining performance

March 5, 2024/by Ian King

The 2023 Rugby World Cup performance ranked as the Australian ‘Wallabies’ worst performance in the ten World Cups to date in the competition’s relatively short history. Australia failed to advance out of Pool C, winning only two games and finishing 3^rd in the pool. The commentary from all levels of rugby, both within and outside of Australia, was understandably critical.[1]

Many appeared to be surprised by the result. However, from a trajectory perspective, it was a confirmation of direction. The Australian ‘Wallaby’ results at international level have shown an almost linear decline since the early 2000s. That, in earlier European languages, would be described as a ‘score’ of declining results i.e., 20 years.

Without having access to extensive statistics showing twenty-year time frames for comparison purposes, one could assume such a linear decline is uncommon. If for no other reason somewhere along the way action could be expected to have been taken to halt and reverse the trend.

This creates what could be described as the key question – how does a sporting organization achieve such a long-term, linear decline in performance?

Three variables will be reviewed to demonstrate the long-term trajectory of the Australian Wallabies:

World ranking
Wallaby Coach’s win-loss percentage
Bledisloe Cup results

World rankings

The Rugby world rankings were introduced in late 2003 for the World Cup of that year, and records have been maintained since. The 2004 to 2023 results are shown below and demonstrate a relatively linear decline across those twenty years.

Wallaby Coach win-loss percentages

The win-loss percentages of all Australian coaches dating back to the 1960s, since records were maintained and accessible, are shared below.[2] One could divide this sixty plus year time frame into two – a rise to the peak in 2001, and a strong linear decline in the subsequent 22 years.

To demonstrate this post-2001 decline, a table and graph dedicated to this period is included. [3]

Years	Wallaby Coach	W-L %age
1997-2001	Rod Macqueen	79%
2001-2005	Eddie Jones	58%
2006-2007	John Connolly	64%
2008-2013	Robbie Deans	59%
2013-2014	Ewen McKenzie	59%
2014-2019	Michael Cheika	50%
2020-2023	Dave Rennie	36%
2023-2023	Eddie Jones	22%

Bledisloe Cup results

The Bledisloe Cup is a completion between the Australian Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks that commenced in the early 1930s.[4] It has not always been an annual event, but in recent history it has. It is essentially the outcome of a two to four game series in any calendar year. Australia is blessed with its geographical proximity to arguable the greatest national rugby team in the history of the game in the All Blacks. Whilst the All Blacks cannot be expected to be the best team in the world every year, they provide a yard-stick for Australia to assess their current status.

The last time the Australia Wallabies won the Bledisloe Cup was in 2002, and that was through a drawn series, allowing the incumbent to hold the title. Therefore, it’s been 22 years since Australia won the Bledisloe Cup.

Most losing periods for the Wallabies in this Cup history last three to five years. The previous longest losing period for the Wallabies covered thirteen years of competition from 1951 to 1978.

Summary

The three variables analyzed demonstrate a relatively linear decline in Wallaby performance over more than two decades. To put simply, no-one or nothing was successful in reversing that trend for over twenty years. That is significant.

The decline on-field success is also being seen in other areas, including declining numbers of registered players, reduced revenues, and reduced TV coverage.[5]

Some suggest there was more than on-field feedback about the need to act:

As far back as April 2010, according to confidential internal documents seen by The Australian Financial Review, Australian rugby administrators were being warned in general terms about the risks of being “blind to decline”, especially the perils of clinging to an “outdated organisational structure”….A litany of other reports followed, yet nothing changed. Today Rugby Australia resembles the last days of the Nixon White House. Yes, it is that bad. [6]

However even the on-field failures appear to have been ignored, such as the 2009 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield, the first loss to them in 27 years. This was the Australian media reaction:

Australia’s first defeat to Scotland in 27 years has been met with a storm of criticism back home – with some commentators predicting the “death of Rugby Union” Down Under…

“The Wallabies are not just the laughing stock of Australian sport. They are also the laughing stock of the international rugby world after suffering their worst loss in decades,” the Sydney Morning Herald wrote.

“This defeat was not as bad as being beaten by Tonga in 1973 but it’s not far off.”

The Australian newspaper wrote that the team’s poor performances were threatening the very support of the game in a country where four football codes – League, Union, Aussie Rules and soccer – are all fighting for fans and sponsorship.

“This Wallabies side will be the death of Australian rugby followers, if not the death of Australian rugby,” The Australian wrote.[7]

So, what did Australian Rugby do during this period of 2001 to 2023? Changed coaches. Seven coaches in total were used in that twenty-two-year period, with an average coach tenure of a little over three years. Yet the pattern of decline continued.

Accurately described by this journalist:

… post-2003, we’ve seen a cycle of coaches getting strapped into the coach’s chair and getting ejected out fighter jet style unceremoniously when glimmers of success end up unsustained.[8]

Were these ‘poor’ coaches? No, most of them were hired with resumes that supported their appointments. Were the funds so low in Australian rugby that they were forced to hire ‘cheap’ coaches? No. Many of the coaches hired were amongst the highest paid coaches in the world during their time with the Wallabies e.g., 2008 appointee Robbie Deans on a reported $1mill/year contract;[9] 2020-2023 Coach Dave Rennie reported $1mill/year.[10]

So, the coaches were not bad coaches, and they were not cheap coaches. Yet they all underperformed in the Australian coaching role, and in a linearly declining way.

The question can be asked in reverse – by studying the ‘Golden Age’ of Australian rugby:

The Guardian’s Michael Aylwin pointed out in Unholy Union, that the golden age of Australian rugby from 1979 to 1999.. [11]

Was Australian rugby excelling in the Golden Era peak of the 1990s because of the coaches?

…Then came the golden years 1984 to 2001. Eighteen seasons with an average win rate of 70%…” [12]

Or was there a different common denominator?

Many focus on the coaches, or even the players. What does history teach us? What action was taken in the 1970s to get out of the last Bledisloe slump that concluded in 1978?

“The early to mid 70s was a particularly galling era. The 1972 Wallabies were known as the “Awful Aussies…” [13]

In the 1970s Australian introduced national programs that became arguably world leading.

In 1974, Marks became the inaugural Rothmans coaching director, with responsibilities for establishing a National Coaching Scheme for Australian Rugby. He remained in the job until 1995, through an unprecedented period of success for Australian rugby.^[5] He authored an influential coaching manual, instigated a number of coach and player development initiatives, and served on the first IRB Technical Committee and wrote a Charter of the Game

“What Marks achieved during his twenty-two year tenure at the job has been described with any number of accolades, but in making a judgement on his success you need go no further than the statistics. In the seven year period prior to the National Coaching Scheme, Australia had a 14% success rate over twenty-nine Test matches. By 1992 Australia had won a Grand Slam, a Bledisloe Cup series and a World Cup. Over the 110 Test matches since the introduction of the Scheme, it lifted its strike rate to 61% overall and to 72% in the last twenty nine encounters of that period.”— Peter Meares & Maxwell Howell, 2005[14]

More than one commentator can be found to reference the action taken in the 1970s to resurrect an ailing game in Australia:

Exactly 50 years ago, the Wallabies suffered one of their most notorious defeats – to Tonga in Brisbane. Yet, out of that debacle surfaced a national coaching and skills program that delivered players such as the Ella brothers, Campese and Michael Lynagh, and coaches Bob Templeton, Bob Dwyer and Alan Jones. Ultimately, they led Australia to the top of world rugby in the 1980s and ’90s.[15]

So, what happened to these programs?

“To his great credit, Mr O’Neill [ARU CEO] marketed them [the most talented and best-nurtured ever assembled in this country – and all produced under a pre-O’Neill regime very well] but to his eternal discredit he dismantled the system that produced them. He eliminated the collective system of technical policy … he took rugby out of the AIS, believing that you could buy their expertise whenever you needed it…He took the development of aspiring champions out of the hands of experienced rugby tutors and put them under the control of hacks.”[16]

Dick Marks is suggesting that the Australian Rugby Union killed the goose that laid the Golden Eggs.

Conclusion

The Australian Wallabies have demonstrated a twenty-two-year pattern of decline. Many players have been used. .Seven coaches have been used. The only constant is the Australian Rugby Union. Dick Marks accurately summed up the declining pattern of Australian rugby in his 2021 book The Descent of Australian Rugby.[17] Even the Australian Financial Review did weighed in on the issue:

Blame years of structural decline in how rugby in Australia is managed and administered. [18]

However, who in the Australian Rugby Union is taking the lessons? And what will the Australian Rugby Union produce now after 22 years of failing to reverse the decline?

Either way, the ARU deserves acknowledgement for providing an impressive case study in a score-long (twenty-year) declining performance model. And for that, all students of sports performance are grateful.

References

[1] https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/67021813

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_national_rugby_union_team_coaches

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_national_rugby_union_team_coaches

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bledisloe_Cup

[5] https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/weekend-at-bernie-s-why-only-radical-action-can-breathe-life-back-into-rugby-20231026-p5ef5e.html

[6] https://www.afr.com/companies/sport/at-rugby-australia-15-years-of-dithering-must-end-now-20230921-p5e6eq

[7] https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2009/11/23/the-death-of-australian-rugby

[8] https://www.theroar.com.au/2023/11/04/the-disunion-of-australian-rugby-does-it-really-get-any-worse-than-this/

[9] http://en.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/story/73393.html

[10] https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/a-rock-and-a-hard-place-rennie-s-1m-contract-under-scrutiny-20200605-p54zrn.html

[11] https://www.afr.com/companies/sport/at-rugby-australia-15-years-of-dithering-must-end-now-20230921-p5e6eq