Alex McKinnon possibly Quadriplegic - Mclean guilty of dangerous throw - 7 weeks

[insert.pause]

I don't blame McKinnon for trying to milk every cent out of probably the worst thing that can happen to someone short of dying. It'd be great if the nrl wasn't being used as a media punching bag as usual (although this time indirectly) by it's so called broadcast "partner" but I just can't resent the bloke in the wheelchair for doing everything he can to get paid. I would too.

The NRL have given him "a job for life", which is fine, but he needs more certainty than that & I think the NRL appreciate that, neither party want to go to court over it but both probably also aren't sure how to proceed, I think arbitration is setup for something like this, it's not about it being adversarial, it's just best equipped to come to a fair resolution.

 

[Perth Red]

I don't blame McKinnon for trying to milk every cent out of probably the worst thing that can happen to someone short of dying. It'd be great if the nrl wasn't being used as a media punching bag as usual (although this time indirectly) by it's so called broadcast "partner" but I just can't resent the bloke in the wheelchair for doing everything he can to get paid. I would too.

There's a saying, don't bite the hand that feeds you.

 

[souths_pride]

Here is my take on the recent Smith-McKinnon-60 minutes drama. I think Alex McKinnon was way out of line questioning the integrity of the Australian captain like that. Cameron Smith is a man of honor, a great player and arguably one of the game's finest ever captain's. If McKinnon bothered to listen correctly to what Cameron Smith was saying he'd understand that he was merely trying to point out that McLean wasn't responsible Alex McKinnon's predicament. Moreover, he points to the fact that there are dozens of similar lifting tackles in the game where players get lifted and the tackler doesn't get penalised/placed on report - a true statement! He even refers to two other lifting instances that happened in the same game to the Storm. Part of what bothered me was that McKinnon carried on like Cameron Smith had a personal vendetta against him. McKinnon was merely defending (correctly) his team mate; something I'm sure that he would have done had the roles been reversed. I think any other captain who was in that position would have done the same thing. McKinnon also needs to face the fact that Smith nor did anyone else know the extent of the injury! Now he might think to himself "well I'm being stretchered off.." My response to that there are many instances of players getting stretchered off and more often than not its just precautionary.

The thing that Alex McKinnon needs to accept more than anything is that he contributed to the incident by ducking his head and diving over like that. Jordan McClean did not speak tackle and dump him on his head. Yes he lifted the guy but McLean did not drive him into the ground. I'm not saying that its his (McKinnon's) fault at all and nor what he did was stupid and reckless; it was probably instinctive. Additionally, Smith was not the only one to allude to the head tucking - both Warren Smith and Greg Alexander said the same thing in commentary, as did a host of other pundits and rugby league personalities at the time, and I don't see McKinnon having a whack at them!

What he needs to comprehend is that the whole incident was unfortunate and on par with what happened with Phil Hughes tragedy. Now many people are going to say it was an 'illegal tackle'. That's a whole can of worms in itself. What I will say is that we see far worse tackles than this every game! I thought the Josh Jackson tackle a few weeks ago was one of the worst tackles I've seen in recent years; it was certainly far worse than the McKinnon tackle and he got off!! How many week did Tyrone Peachey get at the start of the season for that spear tackle after the whistle went in the game against the Broncos? 2 weeks wasn't it? What about Greg Inglis getting speared by Krisnan Inu a couple of years ago? How long did he get? Those tackles were all far worse than McKinnon's one.

Now 60 minutes is not innocent in all this. If anyone is to blame its them - portraying a future rugby league immortal as a heartless bastard. If they bothered to show Alex the whole clip they would be able to see clearly that Cameron Smith was clearly worried just as much as anyone else out there. Moreover, 60 minutes conveniently forget to play the part of the clip where Smith says that this incident was unfortuante and that he "doesn't want to see that (those sorts of incidents) happen in our game..." I was also angered by the fact that neither McKinnon nor 60 minutes bothered to check with the Storm as to whether Smith bothered contacting Smith. If they did they would have discovered that Smith indeed did attempt to visit Smith but was denied by McKinnon for whatever reason. Again I'm not necessarily blaming McKinnon for that because he obviously has more important things to worry about but when you have a go at someone via the media, you have to get your facts right!

Now what is to become of this whole mess - who knows? Will lawyers be involved? Will a good man in Cameron Smith have to endure the wrath of the general public? I just think that Channel 9 could have avoided all this drama by not revisited the tackle. They turned out what could have been a real positive story that focused on a courageous player who is doing so well in over coming a devastating injury into a media furore by bringing in the Australian captain and dragging his reputation through the mud.

 

[Apey]

Cameron Smith is a man of honor

Outstanding.

 

[roughyedspud]

Here is my take on the recent Smith-McKinnon-60 minutes drama. I think Alex McKinnon was way out of line questioning the integrity of the Australian captain like that. Cameron Smith is a man of honor, a great player and arguably one of the game's finest ever captain's. If McKinnon bothered to listen correctly to what Cameron Smith was saying he'd understand that he was merely trying to point out that McLean wasn't responsible Alex McKinnon's predicament. Moreover, he points to the fact that there are dozens of similar lifting tackles in the game where players get lifted and the tackler doesn't get penalised/placed on report - a true statement! He even refers to two other lifting instances that happened in the same game to the Storm. Part of what bothered me was that McKinnon carried on like Cameron Smith had a personal vendetta against him. McKinnon was merely defending (correctly) his team mate; something I'm sure that he would have done had the roles been reversed. I think any other captain who was in that position would have done the same thing. McKinnon also needs to face the fact that Smith nor did anyone else know the extent of the injury! Now he might think to himself "well I'm being stretchered off.." My response to that there are many instances of players getting stretchered off and more often than not its just precautionary.

The thing that Alex McKinnon needs to accept more than anything is that he contributed to the incident by ducking his head and diving over like that. Jordan McClean did not speak tackle and dump him on his head. Yes he lifted the guy but McLean did not drive him into the ground. I'm not saying that its his (McKinnon's) fault at all and nor what he did was stupid and reckless; it was probably instinctive. Additionally, Smith was not the only one to allude to the head tucking - both Warren Smith and Greg Alexander said the same thing in commentary, as did a host of other pundits and rugby league personalities at the time, and I don't see McKinnon having a whack at them!

What he needs to comprehend is that the whole incident was unfortunate and on par with what happened with Phil Hughes tragedy. Now many people are going to say it was an 'illegal tackle'. That's a whole can of worms in itself. What I will say is that we see far worse tackles than this every game! I thought the Josh Jackson tackle a few weeks ago was one of the worst tackles I've seen in recent years; it was certainly far worse than the McKinnon tackle and he got off!! How many week did Tyrone Peachey get at the start of the season for that spear tackle after the whistle went in the game against the Broncos? 2 weeks wasn't it? What about Greg Inglis getting speared by Krisnan Inu a couple of years ago? How long did he get? Those tackles were all far worse than McKinnon's one.

Now 60 minutes is not innocent in all this. If anyone is to blame its them - portraying a future rugby league immortal as a heartless bastard. If they bothered to show Alex the whole clip they would be able to see clearly that Cameron Smith was clearly worried just as much as anyone else out there. Moreover, 60 minutes conveniently forget to play the part of the clip where Smith says that this incident was unfortuante and that he "doesn't want to see that (those sorts of incidents) happen in our game..." I was also angered by the fact that neither McKinnon nor 60 minutes bothered to check with the Storm as to whether Smith bothered contacting Smith. If they did they would have discovered that Smith indeed did attempt to visit Smith but was denied by McKinnon for whatever reason. Again I'm not necessarily blaming McKinnon for that because he obviously has more important things to worry about but when you have a go at someone via the media, you have to get your facts right!

Now what is to become of this whole mess - who knows? Will lawyers be involved? Will a good man in Cameron Smith have to endure the wrath of the general public? I just think that Channel 9 could have avoided all this drama by not revisited the tackle. They turned out what could have been a real positive story that focused on a courageous player who is doing so well in over coming a devastating injury into a media furore by bringing in the Australian captain and dragging his reputation through the mud.

this 110%..

It was a unfortunate accident...the deciding factor was the fact alex tucked his head in...his dad and lady interviewer even eluded to the fact that if alex puts his arms out it wouldn't have happened..

As for cam smith...yeah with hindsight it seems insensitive what he said,obviously he didn't know how serious a injury it turned out too be...but what he said is true...if alex didn't duck his head it wouldn't have happened...

The court case,when it happens,will be interesting cos the defence will roll out hundreds of similar tackles where the guy being tackled used his arms to cushion and slide the tackle out..it happens practically every round...

 

[Canard]

Sorry, mate. Which claim?

That he will go to CH 7 for a tell all

 

[Canard]

Smith broke no laws with what he did.

He just showed zero common decency in a situation that you would expect someone held up as a pillar of the code to possess.

In an incident that is virtually unprecedented in Rugby League history, he acted like every other captain in the NRL.

To pretend this wasn't an extraordinary circumstance and retrospectively get angry at someone is totally swallowing the tabloid TV line

 

[--Storm--]

Here is my take on the recent Smith-McKinnon-60 minutes drama. I think Alex McKinnon was way out of line questioning the integrity of the Australian captain like that. Cameron Smith is a man of honor, a great player and arguably one of the game's finest ever captain's. If McKinnon bothered to listen correctly to what Cameron Smith was saying he'd understand that he was merely trying to point out that McLean wasn't responsible Alex McKinnon's predicament. Moreover, he points to the fact that there are dozens of similar lifting tackles in the game where players get lifted and the tackler doesn't get penalised/placed on report - a true statement! He even refers to two other lifting instances that happened in the same game to the Storm. Part of what bothered me was that McKinnon carried on like Cameron Smith had a personal vendetta against him. McKinnon was merely defending (correctly) his team mate; something I'm sure that he would have done had the roles been reversed. I think any other captain who was in that position would have done the same thing. McKinnon also needs to face the fact that Smith nor did anyone else know the extent of the injury! Now he might think to himself "well I'm being stretchered off.." My response to that there are many instances of players getting stretchered off and more often than not its just precautionary.

The thing that Alex McKinnon needs to accept more than anything is that he contributed to the incident by ducking his head and diving over like that. Jordan McClean did not speak tackle and dump him on his head. Yes he lifted the guy but McLean did not drive him into the ground. I'm not saying that its his (McKinnon's) fault at all and nor what he did was stupid and reckless; it was probably instinctive. Additionally, Smith was not the only one to allude to the head tucking - both Warren Smith and Greg Alexander said the same thing in commentary, as did a host of other pundits and rugby league personalities at the time, and I don't see McKinnon having a whack at them!

What he needs to comprehend is that the whole incident was unfortunate and on par with what happened with Phil Hughes tragedy. Now many people are going to say it was an 'illegal tackle'. That's a whole can of worms in itself. What I will say is that we see far worse tackles than this every game! I thought the Josh Jackson tackle a few weeks ago was one of the worst tackles I've seen in recent years; it was certainly far worse than the McKinnon tackle and he got off!! How many week did Tyrone Peachey get at the start of the season for that spear tackle after the whistle went in the game against the Broncos? 2 weeks wasn't it? What about Greg Inglis getting speared by Krisnan Inu a couple of years ago? How long did he get? Those tackles were all far worse than McKinnon's one.

Now 60 minutes is not innocent in all this. If anyone is to blame its them - portraying a future rugby league immortal as a heartless bastard. If they bothered to show Alex the whole clip they would be able to see clearly that Cameron Smith was clearly worried just as much as anyone else out there. Moreover, 60 minutes conveniently forget to play the part of the clip where Smith says that this incident was unfortuante and that he "doesn't want to see that (those sorts of incidents) happen in our game..." I was also angered by the fact that neither McKinnon nor 60 minutes bothered to check with the Storm as to whether Smith bothered contacting Smith. If they did they would have discovered that Smith indeed did attempt to visit Smith but was denied by McKinnon for whatever reason. Again I'm not necessarily blaming McKinnon for that because he obviously has more important things to worry about but when you have a go at someone via the media, you have to get your facts right!

Now what is to become of this whole mess - who knows? Will lawyers be involved? Will a good man in Cameron Smith have to endure the wrath of the general public? I just think that Channel 9 could have avoided all this drama by not revisited the tackle. They turned out what could have been a real positive story that focused on a courageous player who is doing so well in over coming a devastating injury into a media furore by bringing in the Australian captain and dragging his reputation through the mud.

Very good post. Agree 100%

 

[Haffa]

There's a saying, don't bite the hand that feeds you.

The one which isn't feeding him enough?

 

[Haffa]

Will a good man in Cameron Smith have to endure the wrath of the general public? I just think that Channel 9 could have avoided all this drama by not revisited the tackle. They turned out what could have been a real positive story that focused on a courageous player who is doing so well in over coming a devastating injury into a media furore by bringing in the Australian captain and dragging his reputation through the mud.

People have a right to question his actions just as he has a right to defend them. He's hardly got a squeaky clean image like you've described.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Very good post. Agree 100%

Course you do. Remind me how many premierships Melbourne have won again?

This of course is the poster that believes McKinnon should have just allowed himself to be driven face first into the turf.

Cameron Smith is dead-set the OJ of the rugby league world, with a better PR team. Someone like Josh Reynolds is pillared as the head grub of the competition and the man everyone loves to hate...yet a guy who managed himself during the two contracts era when every other manager involved was banned, was a major player in the advent of the chicken wing era (look at old 08 tapes and how grubby he was), spends 10 mins of his life trying to blame a major injury on the player himself and whatever else is somehow held up as farting rainbows and probably should have his #9 retired so no one else can wear it.

 

[carcharias]

mckinnin summed it up perfectly
" wouldn't you just f**king shut up?".

Or similar wording.

 

[Snappy]

Course you do. Remind me how many premierships Melbourne have won again?
.

More than the Warriors.

 

[Spot On]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...writes-paul-kent/story-fnp0lyn3-1227431353697

 

[Danish]

In an incident that is virtually unprecedented in Rugby League history, he acted like every other captain in the NRL.

To pretend this wasn't an extraordinary circumstance and retrospectively get angry at someone is totally swallowing the tabloid TV line

Given the incident is virtually unprecedented, what exactly are you basing your opinion that every other NRL captain would have acted in the same disgraceful manner?

I was angry at him while he was doing it. Check the match day thread and you'll see my comments highlighting Smith being an asshole for arguing about the tackle.

 

[big hit!]

I cant say im surprised at the number of idiots that just lapped up the 60 minutes bullshit.

considering how Cs 7 & 9 have the highest rating news bulletins in the metropolitan, neither am I. I stopped watching much (except sport unfortunately which I can't avoid) on a commercial network a long time ago. I assume the directive to journalists is to use emotive language with words such as shocking, horrifying, terrifying, etc in their news stories is as strong as ever.

C9 takes the grubbery crown though. Always willing to put the boot into rugby league when it can. Any scandal is magnified by a thousand with headline billing and bait viewing, and they still push their tabloid vehicle ACA to the hilt even after C7 dumped theirs.

For the average pleb, it's like sugar. They're subconsciously addicted to it.

in addition to C9 willing to use the game as a punching bag, it has rarely offered any programs in the 25+ continuous years of its association that advance the merits of the game. Watch the AFL, the NFL, the EPL, etc and the suite of programs on offer for those sports which discuss, analyse, preview, review, provide insight, offer magazine type shows, etc and compare it to what C9 have ever done with rugby league. It's not slick or professional at all. The best it has ever done is mic up a ref so it hopes it can grab yet another story it can exploit, we hear players swearing in the heat of battle, or we get to watch winning teams banging on a garbage gerny as they sing their team song, use an arm wrestle comp to raise funds which goes predictably wrong so folks who don't watch it their bogan variety show just tut tut again about rugby league in general, or they promote their other shows up until 8:23pm while the country is waiting for an Origin match for an 8pm start to begin.

The attractiveness of rugby league has not improved one iota in its association with C9.

 

[Perth Red]

The one which isn't feeding him enough?

I've worked on a spinal injury unit, compared to 99% of people in there and what they will have to live on I wouldn't say he is hard done by financially. Job for life and $2million plus more raised every year.

 

[carcharias]

Big deal if 60 mins have highlighted what Smith said and how McKinnon feels about it.
Imagine what he first thought when he saw the replay.
Then to hear Smith blame him for it...what a f**king crock of shit.
He ducks his head???? what else was he going to do while he was being driven head first into the ground?
It was an atrocious thing to go on with.
PLus...as Danish pointed out Smiths remarks were already debated in here at the time.
I seriously doubt many other captains would have done the same.
Maybe at first but once it was clear the bloke was in trouble I cannot imagine too many others going on with it.

Smith showing his true colours .

 

[betcats]

People keep saying Smith should of been allowed to have his say on Sunday but why? Alex is entitled to feel how he does no one can tell him differently. Smith has already had his say when McKinnon was on the ground struggling to breathe, where was Alex's right of reply when he was being blamed for this?

 

[Shorty]

I don't blame McKinnon for trying to milk every cent out of probably the worst thing that can happen to someone short of dying. It'd be great if the nrl wasn't being used as a media punching bag as usual (although this time indirectly) by it's so called broadcast "partner" but I just can't resent the bloke in the wheelchair for doing everything he can to get paid. I would too.

Definitely, the book needed a hook and Smith was it.

At least the silver lining in this is it's made channel nine look terrible.