Publication: This will be published in The Newcastle Herald. I feel this is the perfect
publication because both my interviewees are legends of the Newcastle Knights
football team, the incidents I mention are about Alex McKinnon, who is also a
Knights player and a central part of current sports new in Newcastle, as well as Curtis
Landers who is from Forster. My work suits this publication style perfectly as it’s
exactly what would be on the website and in the paper itself, and the community
consider all people mentioned to be inspirational and thus want to read more on them,
especially contrasting views from two legendary players.
Is State of Origin a bad influence on our kids?
Origin may be known as the courageous game of champions, but lately the crushing
tackles that make it so famous are resulting in more injuries, making supporters
question how far it will go before it compromises the overall safety and integrity of
the game, and if professionals are good role models for junior players.
This Rugby League season has already seen shocking and life-threatening injuries, so
after the dangerous plays in Game I players, such as Brent Tate, are wondering when
officials will draw the line on lifting tackles.
We asked two legends of the game, Danny Buderus and Adam MacDougall, their
opinion on this current controversial topic.
“The lifting tackles are a highly contested topic at the moment, the grading’s are very
contentious. It’s a difficult topic. It will probably be contentious for a long time to
come, “ says Buderus.
Buderus holds the record for being the captain of the NSW Origin side for the most
consecutive games at 15, so he understands the nature of the game being rough.
“The game’s been built on a physical sense,” explains Buderus.
“Wednesday (Game I) was a highly competitive and intense game and that’s because
the level has been raised again. They’re all the same athletes in a sense, they’re all as
strong as each other and fit as each other,” says Buderus.
The controversy around Origin was sparked after Brent Tate was put in a dangerous
position in a tackle by Josh Reynolds during the game, and was reportedly left shaken
and terrified. The following day he proposed a ban on lifting tackles.
Buderus, who retired at the end of the 2013 season, doesn’t agree that they need to be
banned.
“There is a place for it in that game, the ones that are spectacular and in control. There
is a safe lifting tackle if it is controlled and in the right manner.”
At the other side of the spectrum, Adam MacDougall, who played 11 games total for
NSW Origin, thinks that Tate’s proposal is well called for.
“I fully embrace the fact that there is a push from a lot of players to ban the lifting
tackle. It might take some time for it to go out of the game…I think it’s the best for
the players and long term benefit of the game,” says MacDougall.
Like Buderus, MacDougall understands the type of game that Origin represents, and
what makes it different from a normal Rugby League game.
“Its certainly another level once again of what is a brutal sport,” says MacDougall.
Rugby League itself is renowned for being a passionate and tough game, but Tate and
other players like MacDougall are now speaking up about its brutality and requesting
bans after Alex McKinnon’s accident earlier this year.
McKinnon, a Newcastle Knights player, is still in intensive care after a severe neck
injury in round three that left him as a quadriplegic.
Buderous and MacDougall both played the majority of their careers and later retired
as a player at the Knights, and are both still dealing with what happened to their
friend.
“It affected everyone, it still does affect everyone. We are still holding onto the hope
he will be back to the normal Alex McKinnon. I’m very proud of the way the club’s
handled it and the boys, its also pretty hard at the moment,” says Buderous.
“It has affected me in a personal sense, its so sad to see what he’s going through and
so heartbreaking to see what happened to him and the fact he has such a big challenge
ahead of him,” says MacDougall.
Many people argued that the public was overreacting with requesting more
punishment on lifting tackles after the incident, especially when they think such a
horrifying injury couldn’t possibly happen again.
The NRL community was shaken after McKinnon’s accident, but it was what
happened a few months later that makes you question the influence that professional
football does have on the younger grades.
Curtis Landers, a 15-year-old boy from Forster, also broke his neck during a tackle in
a game, an incident that has sent shock waves through the community and continued
the injury nightmare.
“You sign up and play the game thinking its never going to happen,” says Buderous,
“Every situation is different. You see over 1000 odd tackles every weekend. Curtis is
a young guy in the best care and he’s right down next to Alex,” says Buderus.
It only took these two accidents for the public to realise the severity of the injuries
that can occur. Although McKinnon and Landers have received constant community
support, they are the reason why players are questioning lifting tackles and the safety
of young players.
“As a first grade footballer we aren’t really conscious of the fact that what we do on
the field has an influence on the younger players and the players at a younger level
but it certainly does,” says MacDougall.
MacDougall acknowledges that he and other professional players are seen as role
models, and kids will try to emulate them and act the same.
What they see on the screen is heroic and athletic performances, but Origin is also
known for its bloody punch-ups, and many fans watch the spectacle in expectation
that they will see one.
“Monkey see monkey do. See a fight in the origin they’ll try to have a fight
themselves,” says MacDougall.
Buderus, on the other hand, doesn’t believe that young players fall under the influence
of re-enacting the violence they see on the screen.
“I’m sure young kids would like to implement and impersonate someone like Greg
Inglis running 100m to score a try or a doing a great kick rather then putting someone
in a dangerous position in a tackle,” says Buderus.
Buderus understands that young kids love the contact and physical aspect of the
game, and through many of the work shops he has done with junior players he
believes you just have to teach them the right way to tackle, especially where to put
their heads.
As a professional NRL player they under an intensive amount of training so they are
prepared for what could happen on the field, but both Buderus and MacDougall agree
that you never once think such a severe injury like McKinnon’s or Landers’s would
happen.
“You sign up and play the game thinking its never going to happen. You probably
don’t think from that point of view of the seriousness of what happened to Alex. But
you know there are risks, especially up to this level,” says Buderus.
MacDougall agrees, “Makes you be a little bit selfish and reflect on your own career
and realise how lucky you were yourself not to maybe be injured yourself in a tackle
that you were probably part of many a times, being lifted yourself in your career.”
There are many differences in the opinions of Buderus and MacDougall, but both
Origin legends believe in the overall safety of the game, that it is a passionate and
appealing spectacle, and overall the pinnacle of Rugby League at the moment.
They’re role models for young kids who have grown up watching them on the screen,
and they both share advice for the younger generations who want to stay safe while
playing NRL.
“Learn the basics of how to tackle properly. The rules are in place and from a safe
playing code from the juniors it’s a pretty safe game,” says Buderus.
MacDougall says, “At the end of the day it’s a sport that should be played in a certain
manner which is in good spirit and good sportsmanship and putting players in a
position they could possibly be injured isn’t good for anyone let alone the player and
the game.”
“So play in the right spirit, play hard, play tough, but don’t go out obviously trying to
hurt players.”
Tune in to State of Origin game II tonight at 8pm and make up your own opinion on
whether lifting tackles should be in the game.
By Gjenae Rosekelly
Student Number: z3462920
Word Count: 1430