madunit.
Awsome article and great post.
Thanks.
I hope you're a Dragons supporter.
I'm a Balmain fan. But above that, being a historian, I'm a Rugby League fan first and foremost.
More than that, I hope you're a campaigner. You've helped restore my faith today.
I've read too many posts, written by people, who are saying that the tackle on Alex was O.K., and it makes me burn.
My view? Bad in three ways.
1. Hands between legs - Illegal? Gay? (not that there's anything wrong with that).
2. Lifting - Illegal? Dangerous?
3. Driving - Legal? Vicious? The nail in the coffin?
Now we,ve watched it so many times on replay, that the Snap Dragon (Mrs Conditionally Human) wants the tin lids to play AFL instead. Is she right? I'm starting to agree.
Something needs to be done, that's for sure.
I think whats needed is not over reactions from one tackle (of which there's been a shedload that have looked far far worse over the years but the outcome was nowhere near as severe as what happened to poor Alex.
I believe that the NRL laws about penalties being issue when a player goes past the horizontal is stupid. A professional Rugby League players body is going to weigh around 70-80kgs above the waist and 20 or so kegs from the waist down. By the time a player gets to the horizontal and their legs are going up, they've already gone too far and they are lucky if they avoid being speared.
Thats just basic bloody knowledge.
The rule should have always been, if you put a hand between a players legs, you get penalised. Penalise that shit before the lifting happens and you avoid this sort of tragedy happening again from an illegal tackle.
This is an example where McLean hasn't actually lifted McKinnon above the horizontal, he did however unbalance McKinnon, whose momentum was going forward, put him in a dangerous situation whereby Alex fell forward, head first thanks to the weight of the two other players in the tackle.
McLean was wrong to put his hand between McKinnon's legs to effect the tackle, he could have just tackled him around the ankles. But by no means do I believe that McLean intended to spear tackle Alex. That was just a horrible accident resulting from the bad decision made by McLean.
A mistake that McLean will live with for the rest of his life.
The issue here too, is the fact that the storm had been penalised at least twice (from memory) prior to that tackle for lifting in tackles.
This shows that referees are being too lenient on spear tackles to begin with. In the past, players got marched for this, now they are put on report and a penalty is given.
Referees have become too soft and that is another large issue that is sitting under the surface of this tragedy. Sadly, no matter what rule changes take place, they will be too late.
It shouldn't come to this to see basic f**king rule changes made to ensure player safety but without affecting the way the game is played.
And your missus is wrong. It's never okay to play AFL. If she doesn't want the kid to play League, he should take up cricket or snooker.