RYAN DUNGEY

Ryan Dungey’s career splits people right down the middle. Half think he’s a great champion and half think he did it the easy way, chasing podiums instead of wins. Some believe he was just what the sport needed and others think he was boring.

But in sport, numbers don’t lie and they have a way of telling a large part of a story you may never have wittnessed. If you’ve never seen Michael Jordan play but you looked at his numbers, you’d understand how great he was. Same with Kelly Slater and Tiger Woods. Ryan Dungey’s numbers are not just good — they’re outstanding. And I wasn’t a massive fan, I’ll admit that. His calm demeanour never fired me up like so many others who expressed themselves freely. And it wasn’t until he retired that I looked back at his achievements and