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

[Pugzley]

Thanks for that, looking at that i think all the storm players are not at fault.
Just a accident .

16 Melbourne Storm for coming in and lifting the legs. The other two players had McKinnon contained but he just went in anyways. You can tell he did something wrong by the way he walks away and glances back.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

The tackle was an accident, and there are plenty of tackles like that in the game. Only difference here was Alex tucked his head. If he hadn't, the tackle would have been declared legal, and play on called.

Why? As has been pointed out, he was taken past horizontal in a lifting tackle. That's illegal.

Having watched it again, I can't lay any blame to the players up top, but the guy who put his arm between the legs and lifted has caused the whole situation. As that's an illegal act according to the laws of the game, for safety reasons no less, and it's resulted in a catastrophic injury, I don't see how they can do anything other than throw the book at him.

This.

It's why lifting tackles were banned. Not because the administration thought people wanted to deliberately drive players' heads into the ground, but because horrible accidents happen when players are put in these dangerous positions.

 

[Frailty]

What was he supposed to do? They had his arms pinned and he was heading face first into the ground.

Arms pinned?

One was holding the football, and the other one was grabbing the storm players shorts, and then touch the ground before he came down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-BmKXU12yE

 

[nick87]

Thanks for the input Cam!

He's 100% right though. There were 2-3 tackles in that game where the players was in a position as dangerous as the McKinnon tackle and didnt even get a penalty, let lone draw judicary charges.

The tackle wasnt THAT bad. It was bad because it's a lifting tackle and they are all bad, in a large part because things like this CAN happen when you lift, and it deserves a penalty and maybe a low grade charge if the NRL deems it bad enough.

But the difference between this and any number of tackles i saw this week that escaped so much as a penalty was the unfortunate outcome where we've got a young player who's career and livelihood are in doubt.

You cant put that tape against other lifting charges and say it's worse than 1 week suspension.

 

[Usain Bolt]

Didn't take long for this thread to go full genius.

 

[Danish]

I bet Cam Smith feels real good about standing there arguing with the refs for several minutes blaming the bloke with a broken neck, all in the name of saving a penalty against his side.

Complete dick move then, and almost unforgivable now (Smith would have been well aware of how serious the injury was given his proximity to Mckinnon and those treating him).

 

[gronkathon]

Didn't take long for this thread to go full genius.

Speaking of full genius

http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl...864043926?sv=b01ca1b7f566e0a296d347bafb16bcf7

 

[Noname36]

Arms pinned?

One was holding the football, and the other one was grabbing the storm players shorts, and then touch the ground before he came down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-BmKXU12yE

Yep you're right, I hadn't remembered because I didn't want to watch it again.

Still though, they were driving him into the ground with force. Nothing he could have done to stop that. Simply not strong enough to stop the force of 3 players.

 

[perverse]

He's 100% right though. There were 2-3 tackles in that game where the players was in a position as dangerous as the McKinnon tackle and didnt even get a penalty, let lone draw judicary charges.

The tackle wasnt THAT bad. It was bad because it's a lifting tackle and they are all bad, in a large part because things like this CAN happen when you lift, and it deserves a penalty and maybe a low grade charge if the NRL deems it bad enough.

But the difference between this and any number of tackles i saw this week that escaped so much as a penalty was the unfortunate outcome where we've got a young player who's career and livelihood are in doubt.

You cant put that tape against other lifting charges and say it's worse than 1 week suspension.

Bollocks. Snowden got 7 weeks last year because Ray Thompson ran his face into a stationary shoulder (mere weeks after SBW had broken Willie Masons face with a far more aggressive shoulder charge). The judiciary stated that severity of injury is taken into account when handing out suspensions after the Snowden incident.

I agree with you that there are far worse tackles, but there were far worse shoulder charges last year, too. If the judiciary is to have any consistency at all - there should be at least 5 weeks on this.

 

[Frailty]

Yep you're right, I hadn't remembered because I didn't want to watch it again.

Still though, they were driving him into the ground with force. Nothing he could have done to stop that. Simply not strong enough to stop the force of 3 players.

He didn't need to tuck. He wasn't being speared into the ground.

His actions caused his injury. He doesn't tuck and he lands on the ground, gets up and plays the ball. There wouldn't have even been a penalty (should be because he did just go beyond the horizontal but referees are useless as a c**k-flavoured lollipop).

 

[Frank_Grimes]

He didn't need to tuck. He wasn't being speared into the ground.

His actions caused his injury. He doesn't tuck and he lands on the ground, gets up and plays the ball. There wouldn't have even been a penalty (should be because he did just go beyond the horizontal but referees are useless as a c**k-flavoured lollipop).

One could also argue that if he wasn't lifted into that position, he doesn't feel compelled to tuck his head down expecting to be lifted further.

You can't lay the blame for the injury on the man being lifted and inverted. He couldn't have known that he was only going to go a little past horizontal. It is perfectly normal for him to have assumed he was going all the way over.

Therefore - the blame lays squarely on the player (or players) who put him in that position.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

Im not making any comment on who was at fault or who wasn't.

But surely the extent of an injury shouldn't have any bearing on any suspension.

After what happened to Snowden last year for his pretty lackluster shoulder charge, the injury will have a massive baring on the suspension outcome.

 

[herbert henry1908]

After what happened to Snowden last year for his pretty lackluster shoulder charge, the injury will have a massive baring on the suspension outcome.

Two wrongs.....

 

[Tommy Smith]

I have to agree with Frailty here, for the most part.

Whilst this may not be a very popular opinion, I can only surmise that it was an attempt to milk a penalty gone wrong.

I do believe it was a penalty because McLean did place his hands betwenn McKinnon's legs. But he was barely, if it all, lifted above the horizontal.

He was on course to be tackled almost horizontal to the ground until a last split second decision to inexplicably tuck his head in. I could understand it if he was being driven head first into the ground but the footage clearly shows he wasn't.

Perhaps he was somewhat disorientated.

I do of course wish him a full recovery as much as the next person, but that doesn't mean I have to be hysterical because of the outcome of the incident.

 

[Noname36]

He didn't need to tuck. He wasn't being speared into the ground.

His actions caused his injury. He doesn't tuck and he lands on the ground, gets up and plays the ball. There wouldn't have even been a penalty (should be because he did just go beyond the horizontal but referees are useless as a c**k-flavoured lollipop).

They're supposed to tuck their heads if they going head/face first into the ground in hopes of them flipping and ending up on the top of their back. I'm sure that would be a natural response anyway.

How anyone could be trying to pin blame on him at the moment is beyond me.

 

[mxlegend99]

Ffs some people in here are delusional. The tackle was illegal and deserved a penalty, that was it. The exact same tackle happened several times last night to both teams. Nearly unpenalised every time. McKinnon made the outcome worse in his reaction to the tackle. This tackle despite the injury was no worse then plenty of tackles made last night and in every other game that don't even get a penalty. The outcome was worse, but a bit of terrible luck in this case shouldn't mean that players cop the blame for a freak accident. Not unless every tackle that hits that angle is a suspension aswell.

Smith did nothing wrong either IMO. I hate the prick, but he was just trying to make sure his teammate wasn't sent off for an incident which Knights did before (and after). The very first set of the second half the Knights put in an identical tackle. Not worrying about the potential severity even only 20 minutes later, nor did the referee even penalise it.

 

[perverse]

mxlegend - then how do you explain the Snowden suspension last year for 7 weeks when there were far worse shoulder charges given no suspension at all (or minor suspensions - in the case of SBW)?

If this isn't treated the same way, then the judiciary is clearly biased towards certain teams.

 

[blaza88z]

Tackle was completely legal. No ones fault when a freak accident happens sad for Alex and hope he recovers.

Years of grubby tactics?? Sometimes the anti Melbourne bias on these forums from certain people is stupid.
Pretty sure grubby tactics have been around since the inception of the game.

GTFO with that crap.

They do it every week, it's a well known fact that Bellamy will do whatever it takes to push a few limits in order to slow down the ruck.

Just a matter of time before someone got seriously injured with all their crushers and chicken wings, now we've seen the pile driver.

It's not coincidence that once the speed of the game started to speed up the Storm have won their first 2 games via a field goal, you're deluded if you can't accept the fact that in order for Melbourne to remain a force in the league they need to find new ways to slow down the ruck.

 

[Springs]

He should sue because they haven't outlawed tackling yet.

 

[Stinkler]

Players almost always tuck their chin into their chest when lifted past the horizontal. They usually put an arm out to help break their fall. It's a natural reaction.

The problem here is that McKinnon wasn't lifted all that far off the ground. He probably thought he was a lot higher than he actually was. The time between him tucking his head to when he hit the ground was quite short compared to most "dangerous throws". Usually he would have rotated over and landed on the back of his shoulders or back. Unfortunately this wasn't the case last night. To make it worse, two fairly heavy boys landed on top of him.

Yes, he did contribute to his injury. No, it wasn't his fault.
Are the Storm players to blame? Not entirely.
Should they be charged? Yes, but a low grade.

Accidents happen in footy. This was one of them. Unfortunately it has had a terrible outcome.