The McKinnon incident debate

[ningnangnong]

He ducked his head because he thought he was going to get driven head first into the ground. The Storm defenders were in complete control of him - he can't just assume they're going to realise they've lifted him too far and let him down softly, he has to protect himself from the worst case scenario, which was being driven head first into the ground.

As Browny said earlier, it's very difficult to override your body's instincts when its trying to protect itself from harm.

 

[broncos4life]

He ducked his head because he thought he was going to get driven head first into the ground. He was in complete control of the Storm defenders - he can't just assume they're going to realise they've lifted him too far and let him down softly, he has to protect himself from the worst case scenario, which was being driven head first into the ground.

As Browny said earlier, it's very difficult to override your body's instincts when its trying to protect itself from harm.

Exactly.

 

[Viti]

He ducked his head because he thought he was going to get driven head first into the ground. He was in complete control of the Storm defenders - he can't just assume they're going to realise they've lifted him too far and let him down softly, he has to protect himself from the worst case scenario, which was being driven head first into the ground.

As Browny said earlier, it's very difficult to override your body's instincts when its trying to protect itself from harm.

Yeah I guess I'm not seeing what he's seeing I'm just seeing the whole situation

 

[Kaz]

I don't care if he ducked his head or not. That's not the point.

He was lifted in an illegal tackle, no illegal tackle no injury to McKinnon. (this is the point of this story)

 

[pennywisealfie]

This does not sound good at all. Looks to me that he will be lucky if he is just a paraplegic and not quad. So sad :(

 

[Porthoz]

It was an instinctive reaction to try and protect himself, from a situation he shouldn't have legally been in.

Why are we trying to blame the victim?

Come on mate, no one is trying to blame the victim here, just stating the obvious.

What he did was instinctive and while the tackle was illegal (which no one disputes either), it was at a fairly low scale when it comes to spear tackles, and this horrible result was a combination of factors:
- Lifted past the horizontal.
- Tucked his head in instinctively.
- Players didn't lift further when they realised what they were doing (illegal tackle).
- His head landed in the worst possible position with the weight of himself and 3 other players putting immense forces on his neck.

The cruel irony is that had the players lifted through, it would probably have resulted in nothing but a sore neck/head and a penalty...

There was in my opinion absolutely no malice or intent in that tackle, and I hope there will be no retaliatory knee jerking against the player(s) who caused the injury.

 

[broncos4life]

Come on mate, no one is trying to blame the victim here, just stating the obvious.

What he did was instinctive and while the tackle was illegal (which no one disputes either), it was at a fairly low scale when it comes to spear tackles, and this horrible result was a combination of factors:
- Lifted past the horizontal.
- Tucked his head in instinctively.
- Players didn't lift further when they realised what they were doing (illegal tackle).
- His head landed in the worst possible position with the weight of himself and 3 other players putting immense forces on his neck.

The cruel irony is that had the players lifted through, it would probably have resulted in nothing but a sore neck/head and a penalty...

There was in my opinion absolutely no malice or intent in that tackle, and I hope there will be no retaliatory knee jerking against the player(s) who caused the injury.

When people are saying 'why did he duck his head?" And "if he doesn't duck his head he doesn't get injured" how is that not blaming the victim?

 

[Porthoz]

When people are saying 'why did he duck his head?" And "if he doesn't duck his head he doesn't get injured" how is that not blaming the victim?

Sorry, I see it differently.

I guess anyone is free to interpret things as they see fit, but to me it's nothing more than a statement of fact about one of the contributing factors, not an accusation... at least not how I see it.

 

[Super Freak]

IT was a tough night for the NRL community on Monday, as players, fans, and administrators attempted to come to terms with the serious injury suffered by Newcastle forward Alex McKinnon.

The Knights on Tuesday morning confirmed that McKinnon had fractured his C4 and C5 vertebrae, with doctors still unsure of the level of damage to his spinal cord.

Family and friends are sitting by McKinnon’s hospital bed in Mebourne hoping the 22-year-old will walk again.

At times like this, playing football becomes secondary to the health of a young man.

But as the smoke clears, a post-mortem will have to be conducted to determine if incidents like this can be prevented in the future.

Canterbury champion Steve Mortimer acknowledges that the McKinnon injury was caused by a complete accident.

It was an awkward fall, with no malice in the tackle from the Storm defenders.

However, what concerns Mortimer is that injuries like this could happen again in future if defenders continue to use techniques to try to slow down the play-the-ball.

The answer? Get rid of the 10 metre rule and bring the defensive line closer to the ruck.

“The players are trying to buy time to get back 10 metres,” Mortimer told Fox Sports News and foxsports.com.au.

“Players are buying time by going over the top and then someone comes to get the legs.

“That’s what’s happened there - Alex McKinnon’s ducked his head and flipped over. There’s no intention there but it just happened that way.

“The administrators of the game have got to think, ‘is 10 metres too far?’

“We need to look at the history of rugby league. It first started with one yard. Twenty or 30 years later it went to three yards. Then in my time it went to five metres. And now they’ve doubled it.

“When they’re making a tackle, the defenders will go one up top, one through the middle, and they hold or wrestle or whatever. Then all of a sudden someone comes up like Alex McKinnon, who was on one foot, and it goes wrong.”

Mortimer is the second rugby league legend in two days to warn NRL administrators that changes need to be made to the game.

In an interview for The Daily Telegraph, one of the most iconic figures in rugby league, former Souths premiership captain John Sattler, says he can no longer bear to watch the NRL.

According to Sattler, too many penalties are ruining the spectacle.

Mortimer believes that too would change if the 10 metre rule was scrapped in an effort to speed up the ruck.

“As for the too many penalties issue, they come from holding someone up or holding someone down or someone gets up and loses the ball,” Mortimer said.

“Even if they’re a lot fitter than back in my day, I think 10 metres is too big a call to get back.

“I know 10 metres is too much. Quite frankly if I was a halfback I would love it these days.

“I still think there’s plenty of scope for the chip over the top or the grubber through or whatever. But I don’t think it’s doing any favours for the game.

“Johnny Sattler has come out with that story because he wants people to know there’s something wrong with the game. But he’ll keep watching. He’s a legend of our sport. Why are we tackling up high? Did we ever hear about wrestling back in my day?

“I think rugby league administration went too far with the changes to try to open up the game and create more tries. I don’t think it’s going to hurt for the NRL to sit down and ask ‘are we doing it right?”

No Cookies | thetelegraph.com.au

 

[Super Freak]

2 year recovery time frame...that's not good. I suppose it's a glimmer of hope that he can still play.

 

[Unbreakable]

After originally watching the replay I thought McKinnon may have ducked his head to try and do a flip and land on his back (guaranteed penalty, unlikely injury), similar to the way that Josh Reynolds milked it last year. Or he could've just misjudged the way he was being tackled and thought ducking his head might save him.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wQx-6VADk38

 

[broncos4life]

Sorry, I see it differently.

I guess anyone is free to interpret things as they see fit, but to me it's nothing more than a statement of fact about one of the contributing factors, not an accusation... at least not how I see it.

Fair enough. Does it really matter? I mean I'm not having a go at anyone

 

[Nashy]

And that's why he ended up in that position. I honestly have no idea why he did duck his head, as a forward your job is to get to elbows and knees for a quick play the ball and he would've been able to do that in this tackle.

Why does it matter? He did duck his head, he did break his neck, the tackle was illegal.

 

[Nashy]

What I don't get are people not blaming the three hulking players who knew his neck was under there, piling on and putting all those kilos on.

 

[Morkel]

I guess that's why the rule of "above the horizontal" is there. Next time the Broncos get pinged for a really minor one, I guess I won't complain. That's why the rule is there.

For the record, IMO this isn't an Inglis / Reynolds situation. In those cases, the upturning was actually initiated by the runner. In this case the injury was made more severe by the runner, but the upturning was out of his control so McK is blameless. Like I said earlier, I hope this is enough to stop grubs from milking lifting penalties.

 

[broncos4life]

What I don't get are people not blaming the three hulking players who knew his neck was under there, piling on and putting all those kilos on.

This. Exactly this.

 

[mrslong]

Was McLean on debut? I'd be surprised if he comes back from this. I'd be surprised if the rest of his life is haunted by this if McKinnon doesn't walk again. 2 lives could be damaged by this tackle. It's really tragic all around.

all the negativity about Smith. He was probably trying to help his team mates and wouldn't have known the extent of mckinnons injury. Why does everyone expect him to be God?

 

[Nashy]

Yeah, smith was none the wiser.