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Terrible News RE Alex McKinnon

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/newcastle-knights-alex-mckinnon-has-reportedly-been-diagnosed-as-a-quadriplegic/story-fni3gf5i-1226870148278


Terrible news if correct. Good luck young man.
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Re: Terrible News RE Alex McKinnon

Reply #1
That is not good news at all. Wish him the best, even though I have only heard his name here and there.
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Re: Terrible News RE Alex McKinnon

Reply #2
That's just tragic. I thought it was good news for the kid earlier today when he came out of his coma especially given the recent events with Michael Schumacher, but to hear this is really sad news indeed.
IN WADA WE TRUST

Re: Terrible News RE Alex McKinnon

Reply #3
Very sad news for the young bloke ,and the Storm players involved would be feeling very bad.....just hope new research can find some solutions and give this young man and others some future..

Re: Terrible News RE Alex McKinnon

Reply #4
I'd hate to be the storm players involved in the tackle but at least they are physically unscathed unlike poor Alex.

Wonder if it will impact the rules for AFL?

Re: Terrible News RE Alex McKinnon

Reply #5
This is a tragedy.

There was no real blame for this, the tackle, the impact with the ground happens a million times over each season at professional and amateur grounds everywhere.

However, it should be a lesson to all sports people about the dangers of tucking your chin into your chest when you see an impact coming. I know it is a reaction that happens naturally, protecting eyes, face, etc., etc.. when you see a collision coming you often cannot help it. The type of impact McKinnon suffered as he hit the ground is very similar to the impact White suffered when ducking his head into the on coming tackler last year.

To me this highlights two things in our sport, not related to the McKinnon incident.

Until the AFL gets serious about blokes diving in head first, like the weekend Simpson incident and Jack Ziebell's wrecking ball approach, players are at risk.  Sure penalize the players for making head high contact, but penalise the others for ducking into a collision as well. Paying a free kick is not enough, the video refs should be handing out penalties.

The second thing is blokes jumping off the ground to take hold of a disputed ball or jumping into the tackler, I am not talking about marking here just a ball in dispute. It is a growing trend and in the past it just never happened. Watch, you see guys leave the ground to grab a ball that is bouncing only waist height because they have an approaching opponent. This is because AFL coaches, the megalomaniac types, coach athletes to become footballers, but many of those super athletes fear the very collisions that are a natural part of football. In the old days if your feet left the ground you were fodder for bigger guys to plant their legs and just brush you aside using a hip or a shoulder. Once your feet are off the ground you are out of control and free falling, you cannot push back. But in recent times AFL umpiring has deemed keeping your feet on the ground and disposing of an opponent is blocking their run and often award a free kick against the player doing the blocking. IMHO, this is exactly the wrong way to judge this scenario, the guy jumping is the one who should be penalised. Worse still sometimes the bloke who stays on the ground in the contest gets pinged for tunneling, again this just encourages players to jump.
The Force Awakens!

Re: Terrible News RE Alex McKinnon

Reply #6
Did I just catch a report on radio that the Alex McKinnon quadriplegia report might turn out to be incorrect?

If that turns out to be true, and some journo has floated that story trying to get a scoop, that journalist and the organisation he works for should be blacklisted, fined, deregistered and deported!
The Force Awakens!

Re: Terrible News RE Alex McKinnon

Reply #7
Did I just catch a report on radio that the Alex McKinnon quadriplegia report might turn out to be incorrect?

If that turns out to be true, and some journo has floated that story trying to get a scoop, that journalist and the organisation he works for should be blacklisted, fined, deregistered and deported!

As much as I'd like it to be incorrect, this from the Doctors..

Quote
"One of the most important factors for Alex at this time is hope, which was jeopardised by this report."

Hope is jeopardised by labelling a man a quadriplegic?  Maybe that is because, it is his reality

Otherwise just deny the report!!
IN WADA WE TRUST

Re: Terrible News RE Alex McKinnon

Reply #8
This is a tragedy.

There was no real blame for this, the tackle, the impact with the ground happens a million times over each season at professional and amateur grounds everywhere.

However, it should be a lesson to all sports people about the dangers of tucking your chin into your chest when you see an impact coming. I know it is a reaction that happens naturally, protecting eyes, face, etc., etc.. when you see a collision coming you often cannot help it. The type of impact McKinnon suffered as he hit the ground is very similar to the impact White suffered when ducking his head into the on coming tackler last year.

To me this highlights two things in our sport, not related to the McKinnon incident.

Until the AFL gets serious about blokes diving in head first, like the weekend Simpson incident and Jack Ziebell's wrecking ball approach, players are at risk.  Sure penalize the players for making head high contact, but penalise the others for ducking into a collision as well. Paying a free kick is not enough, the video refs should be handing out penalties.

The second thing is blokes jumping off the ground to take hold of a disputed ball or jumping into the tackler, I am not talking about marking here just a ball in dispute. It is a growing trend and in the past it just never happened. Watch, you see guys leave the ground to grab a ball that is bouncing only waist height because they have an approaching opponent. This is because AFL coaches, the megalomaniac types, coach athletes to become footballers, but many of those super athletes fear the very collisions that are a natural part of football. In the old days if your feet left the ground you were fodder for bigger guys to plant their legs and just brush you aside using a hip or a shoulder. Once your feet are off the ground you are out of control and free falling, you cannot push back. But in recent times AFL umpiring has deemed keeping your feet on the ground and disposing of an opponent is blocking their run and often award a free kick against the player doing the blocking. IMHO, this is exactly the wrong way to judge this scenario, the guy jumping is the one who should be penalised. Worse still sometimes the bloke who stays on the ground in the contest gets pinged for tunneling, again this just encourages players to jump.

To me this is just a tragic accident. To me it seemed a last split second decision to duck the head and this caused the damage. Don't really think the tacklers were at fault

Re: Terrible News RE Alex McKinnon

Reply #9
To me this is just a tragic accident. To me it seemed a last split second decision to duck the head and this caused the damage. Don't really think the tacklers were at fault

That is how I see it.

How do we modify the rules or the sports to reduce the risk of this happening?
The Force Awakens!

Re: Terrible News RE Alex McKinnon

Reply #10
To me this is just a tragic accident. To me it seemed a last split second decision to duck the head and this caused the damage. Don't really think the tacklers were at fault

That is how I see it.

How do we modify the rules or the sports to reduce the risk of this happening?

Not sure LP but after seeing Fyfe get two weeks for his bump I reckon it won't be long before the players are wearing netball bibs

Re: Terrible News RE Alex McKinnon

Reply #11
Not sure LP but after seeing Fyfe get two weeks for his bump I reckon it won't be long before the players are wearing netball bibs

I think the AFL has gone exactly the wrong direction. In banning the bump what we see now are players charging in like missiles without fear or respect of the situation they put themselves or opponents in.

In years gone by there was an acute awareness of those around you, because you had to expect heavy contact game after game knowing it was a very real option. So you modified your behavior to ensure things stayed in control. Back then the lunatic element like Ziebel were usually the first to cop a hit and also often the loudest whingers when it happened. Now he and others like him turn themselves into wrecking balls and I think we are seeing more dangerous collisions because of this not less. Combined with the gutless feet first sliders like Lindsay Thomas, I have no idea why Norp have so many, things had become very risky in recent seasons.

Anyone who has played the game knows you can bump, and then you can bump. One results in a player being displaced in the play, the other can damn near kill somebody! The tribunals piss weak dealings with the latter lead to the bump bans in the first place, deal strongly with the malicious intent and this would never have been a problem. Deal with the Clarkson, Matthews, Bruns, Brereton type incidents harshly enough and I think that maybe it goes away!
The Force Awakens!

Re: Terrible News RE Alex McKinnon

Reply #12
A bump causing an accidental  head clash does less damage than a full on bump that can cause broken ribs fo example which is done to maximise pain