Why Is Mckinnon: Necessary Or Unnecessary?
Round 3 of the 2014 NRL season marked a weekend that would forever change the lives of many rugby league stars. One year into his first grade career with the Melbourne Storm, 23 year old Jordan McLean, alongside fellow teammates Jesse and Kenny Bromwich, became involved in a dangerous tackle on Newcastle Knights front-rower, Alex McKinnon. The two brothers took hold of McKinnon, but needed assistance to bring him to ground. McLean came to their call, making it a three man tackle. After lifting McKinnon’s right leg above the legal horizontal level, McLean spear-tackled him into the ground, rendering him immobile on the field. McKinnon was rushed to Sydney’s Alfred Hospital and placed in an induced coma.
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“Banning these dangerous tackles will ruin the spirit of the game.” Cronulla captain Paul Gallen believes that an adjustment of rules “is stupid” and that “we are making it a soft game” by contemplating any changes. Although some valid points have been raised in favour of ‘traditional’ rugby tackles, the chilling statistic that “5-25% of injuries in rugby league are head injuries” still remains. This has led the NRL to be proactive in eliminating them from the game. NRL chief executive officer Todd Greenberg has introduced a new rule into the competition which not only encourages players to put an end to dangerous tackles, but aims to prevents the rapidly increasing rate of head injuries:
“If you lift a player and put him in a dangerous position, you will be charged unless you pull out quickly and return the player to a safe position.” Ex-South Sydney and New South Wales player, Mario Fenech, experienced several concussions throughout his career as a result of the ball hitting his
“Banning these dangerous tackles will ruin the spirit of the game.” Cronulla captain Paul Gallen believes that an adjustment of rules “is stupid” and that “we are making it a soft game” by contemplating any changes. Although some valid points have been raised in favour of ‘traditional’ rugby tackles, the chilling statistic that “5-25% of injuries in rugby league are head injuries” still remains. This has led the NRL to be proactive in eliminating them from the game. NRL chief executive officer Todd Greenberg has introduced a new rule into the competition which not only encourages players to put an end to dangerous tackles, but aims to prevents the rapidly increasing rate of head injuries:
“If you lift a player and put him in a dangerous position, you will be charged unless you pull out quickly and return the player to a safe position.” Ex-South Sydney and New South Wales player, Mario Fenech, experienced several concussions throughout his career as a result of the ball hitting his