Injured Newcastle Knights star Alex McKinnon weighing up advice to sue

[Kaz]

Alex McKinnon is weighing up legal advice to sue the Melbourne Storm and the NRL following the tackle which left the 23-year-old in a wheelchair.

Fairfax Media has learnt McKinnon has engaged a Sydney-based law firm to explore his rights after the tackle by the Storm's Jordan McLean ended his NRL career prematurely. It is understood the legal advice indicates that McKinnon has a strong potential case for taking action against the Storm and the NRL.

Despite the recommendation, McKinnon is reportedly hesitant to start action as he is mindful of the support he has received from the NRL and the wider rugby league community since the injury. McKinnon did not wish to comment when contacted by Fairfax Media on Wednesday night. It is thought McLean would not be personally liable for the tackle, but his club could come under the microscope. McLean was suspended for seven games for a dangerous throw.

McKinnon's legal team will point to a case involving former Wests Tigers forward Jarrod McCracken, who was awarded $97,000 in 2006 after suing the Melbourne Storm and two players he claimed cut short his career with a spear tackle. In this case, McCracken's career was ended after he injured his neck and spine after a tackle by Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...eighing-up-advice-to-sue-20150513-gh14oe.html

If he is hesitant, why go to a lawyer in the first place.

I knew this would come to suing. Just surprised it took so long.

 

[Unbreakable]

Considering the amount of support and money he got from the Rugby League community, I'm pretty surprised he's suing.

 

[broncos4life]

Good, I hope he does sue. The only thing this shit stain of an administration understands or cares about is money. Maybe if he is successful
and they lose some they might start making sure that ***** like peachey get more than 2 weeks for that crap he pulled on blair

 

[Fozz]

I'm fine with it. That tackle ended his career and affected his life way more than the McCracken tackle so he certainly has a case.

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

Good, I hope he does sue. The only thing this shit stain of an administration understands or cares about is money. Maybe if he is successful
and they lose some they might start making sure that ***** like peachey get more than 2 weeks for that crap he pulled on blair

But the tackle he got injured in wasnt even bad. It was a freak accident. I agree we need to punish spear tackles (and probably all foul play) more harshly, but the tackle he got injured in would not even get a week if he got up and played the ball.

Massive asshole move by McKinnon imo. Players know the risks playing footy. If you want some peace of mind, get income protection insurance. Hell, i have income protection insurance. There is no reason he shouldnt.

Also, after all the help the NRL have given him he has the nerve to do this? Very lame.

 

[Rally Towel]

Well within his rights to.

Support from the NRL is entirely separate to any legal proceedings involving the Storm.

He's a young guy whose bright future in the game has been taken from him. He's entitled to seek recompense for that. I don't consider whatever post playing role the NRL finds him to be remotely equitable to what he has lost.

 

[Mortician]

He's entitled to seek recompense for that.

He has been given $1.1m from the NRL and wider rugby league community as well as job for life offer from the NRL. That is a shit-ton more than most people get and I agree with QUEENSLANDER that it would be an arsehole move for him to sue.

 

[Morkel]

I would bet that there were hundreds of the vultures trying to get access to him so they could entice him with a figure. "We're not suing, we're just going through legal avenues to recoup the earnings that you've been denied".

 

[ivanhungryjak]

He's "exploring his rights". He'd be a fool not to.

 

[Nashy]

Big deal.

As b4l states, hopefully he does sue and the fuckwit banker takes notice.

 

[mitch222]

Pretty poor form if he does sue the NRL. They have set him up with a job for life (and so they should have) and have paid all his medical expenses. Plus not to mention all the money fans actually donated towards his cause. If he sues and gets a big win fall, he should repay all the money he got back from the fans who dug deep in his time of need. Also, the NRL should take his job away from him as well. This is like biting the hand that feeds you. I hope he doesn't go thru with it because it will tarnish his good name all for the sakes of a quick buck because some solicitor is in his head saying he can get millions.

 

[Renegade]

Tough one - how much does he stand to earn from legal action, minus legal fees?

He might be better off with the 'job for life' and proceeds from the rise for alex rounds, financially speaking.

Then again in a few years the NRL might quietly squeeze him out and he'll be without income?

The cynic in me is wondering if there is a statute of limitations on something like this, keep him employed long enough so it expires and then eventually move him on.

 

[subsbligh]

Very difficult argument. Loss of earnings for the rest of his playing career (say $400K x 10 years), plus loss of earnings for the rest of his life as a non-football player based on the degree of impact his quadraplegia has on earning capacity (minimal - when you consider he can sit at a desk/office job), psych injury, medical expenses and rehab.

I was astounded the NRL/Knights don't have WorkCover or public liabilty insurance to deal with this (maybe they do and he just wants to sue for the gap coverage?)

He'd have to show that the NRL/Knights/Storm/Maclean were negligent in failing to put in place reasonable measures to protect him from suffering the injury.

It might be the case that it was simply a terrible tragedy that was not preventable. As well, you've got the player's voluntary acceptance of the risk of serious injury associated with playing a violent contact sport (consent) weighed against whether the tackle was within the rules of the game or within the reasonable bounds of the player's contemplation when consenting to engage in the activity (yes I might get spear tackled and accept there is a risk of quadraplegia but I accept that risk).

To provide an extreme example to illustrate the other argument - yes I consent to the violent and risky nature of the game, but if I got stabbed on the field while playing, that's outside of the "violence" or risk I contemplated.

It could be the case that no one was negligent - it was just a freak accident within the contemplation of the game.

On the other hand. The Storm have form for pushing the rules. Always have with the grapples, chicken wings, choke holds. The NRL has shown a disregard without proper penalties for foul play.

A potential spine injury illegal tackle on field bears the same penalty to a player as being offside.

As a fan, I don't care if the refs "set a dangerous precedent" by marching clearly reckless tackles (like Peachey, Bird in the test, Reynolds in Origin on Tate, Reynolds tripping).

Surely everyone from top down would rather never see another person in a wheelchair due to rugby league than there being "an unfair contest".

 

[subsbligh]

..but don't punch someone in self defence because that's a bad look for the game.

 

[Nashy]

Should be easy to prove the NRL are negligent. Just show them Peachy's lift and then show the suspension size. Done, negligent.

 

[Porthoz]

Should be easy to prove the NRL are negligent. Just show them Peachy's lift and then show the suspension size. Done, negligent.

Would definitely be interesting to see what comes out of it...

Whether he succeeds will very much depend if he can prove negligence, and I doubt that will be an easy task given the consent and risk acceptance forms you have to sign nowadays.

Still, it's probably a bit of a dick move after what the RL world did for him, even if he is within his rights to try.
Like symbolsoup said, plenty of other players have had a career ending injury without ever getting the same treatment from the game. We have our own very recent example of a player that had a much brighter future having to end his career, even if he won't be as restricted in the future as Alex...

 

[subsbligh]

Should be easy to prove the NRL are negligent. Just show them Peachy's lift and then show the suspension size. Done, negligent.

Actually, if they dramatically changed the rules post-McKinnon, it would be more of an admission of liability (i.e. there was a risk and our previous rules were deficient so we change them all to protect against that risk).

Here, it's almost like they're saying, no nothing's wrong with our systems or rules, we aren't going to change anything.

 

[subsbligh]

Would definitely be interesting to see what comes out of it...

Whether he succeeds will very much depend if he can prove negligence, and I doubt that will be an easy task given the consent and risk acceptance forms you have to sign nowadays.

Still, it's probably a bit of a dick move after what the RL world did for him, even if he is within his rights to try.
Like symbolsoup said, plenty of other players have had a career ending injury without ever getting the same treatment from the game. We have our own very recent example of a player that had a much brighter future having to end his career, even if he won't be as restricted in the future as Alex...

It's something I think young fellas need to be fully informed about.

When playing you're basically signing a waiver like you do sky diving or bungee jumping.

That you won't be taken care of if you injure yourself. The scouts are out there hounding these kids with reasonable playing ability from 13 years old, building them up, compelling them to put studies or trades out of their minds. I get the earn or learn U20s program is a great start but you've still got to factor in missing the first 5-10 years of your career and starting on the bottom of the ladder at 30 in your chosen "second career" is a tough ask.