By Andrew Logan
March 31st 2009 @ 6:49am
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Big Mac – down but not out
I was fortunate enough to be recruited last year as the manager of the Australian Sevens team for tours to Hong Kong, London, Edinburgh and Adelaide. With 20-some years of rugby and touring experience under my belt I thought I was pretty well equipped to handle the job, but it was still a steep learning curve.
(By the way my apologies to all the old hands on the circuit who had to put up with me – Duke, Sticks, Billy, Rosco, Pete…..you know who you are).
Anyway, one of the biggest days on the calendar was the day after a tournament had ended. Sevens tournaments are exhausting stuff, because unlike a fifteens game, you might play your first game at 10am and your last at 7pm, which means 9 hours of varying levels of activity, plus another two hours on each end of the day to get up, eat, and get to and from the stadium to the hotel.
You do this for two fourteen hour days on Saturday and Sunday, and then get up at the crack of dawn on the Monday to head to your next destination.
Lucky for me, I had a bloke alongside me the whole way who knew exactly what was going on – the captain and Sevens legend Shawn Mackay. On Mondays, where everyone was tired and grumpy, Macca made it his business to keep the vibe up.
The term for pulling energy away from the team was “sapping”. Being called a “sapper” was the biggest insult you could receive on tour, since what it meant was that you were bringing everyone around you down. Travel days were tough though – and most of us did a bit of sapping on those days, as we were just tired and wanted to get to where we were going.
But not Macca.
He never sapped, he just cruised around with a big grin on his dial. Patting blokes on the back, lifting everyone up, and pouring out the positives.
One of my favourite memories is Macca at Glasgow airport, grinning and holding court as the reigning champion at “Guess Who?”. (For the uninitiated, “Guess Who” is a children’s face-guessing and memory game which was a popular way of passing time at the departure gate).
The biggest lesson I ever learnt about people management was from Macca at the airport in Hong Kong en route to Adelaide.
There were a couple of mild hangovers about, lots of bumps and bruises and plenty of general match fatigue. As manager it was my job to collect the passports, do the ticketing, see to the oversize baggage, make sure that everyone’s bags made it on the plane and also deal with the excess baggage charges.
I was a bit irritable, and wasn’t afraid to let a few people know it, until Macca cruised up and said (with his big smile on his face) “Loges, just chill out bruz. It’s your job to keep the vibe positive”. And he was dead right. I was embarrassed for being such a sapper.
The best thing I could do of course, was not focus on my own problems, but work on keeping the vibe positive for everyone else, just like Macca was doing.
From then on I concentrated on trying to out-positive Macca. Of course, it was an impossible task, but it really worked. The power of positive thinking was Macca’s stock in trade, and he knew what he was talking about.
Unfortunately, the big Mac’s reservoir of positive thinking will be sorely tested after he was hit early on Tuesday morning by an speeding armoured security van in Durban whilst on tour with the Brumbies. Although his injuries are known, the effects of them won’t be truly understood for several days.
It’s a rotten blow for a guy who has been not only relentlessly positive about his approach to rugby, but just as relentless in his chase for a Super 14 start.
At Sevens level, Macca was renowned for two things, aside from his positive approach. One was his commitment to games. He has a huge engine beating in that chest, and there were several times in Sevens tournaments where he would come off hurting so much that he simply had to lie down until the pain went away. Of course, he’d be back on his feet and repeating the effort two hours later.
He had huge respect in the Sevens community, because players from other countries knew that Macca wouldn’t quit. Ever.
The other thing you could guarantee was that if Macca had any sort of a niggle, he’d stop at nothing to get it right. The team might be signing autographs and chatting up chicks around the fences post tournament, but Macca would wave them goodbye with a cheery smile and head off to his room to watch a movie cuddled up to a big old bag of ice.
He had a Michaelangelo chassis with not an ounce of fat on it – testament to his training regime and dietary discipline.
He knew that his dreams weren’t going to be fulfilled by compromising his approach to rugby. Indeed, Andrew Fagan, the Brumbies CEO, told me this morning that Macca had pretty much forced his way into the match day 22 on the back of his relentlessly upbeat approach to training.
So I was surprised to hear that his accident took place at 4am, because it was unlike Macca to be out at that hour anyway, and if he was, it was even less likely that he would have had anything much to drink.
But then I did some sums and some thinking, and realized that not every tour incident is bad behavior. Some of them are just downright, rotten misfortune. This was just an accident of timing.
For an evening match, you run out at 7.30pm. The game doesn’t finish until nearly 9.30, and immediately afterward you have a coordinated recovery session with ice etc followed by shower, dress and on the bus, by which time it is probably 10.30 at least.
Thirty minutes to the hotel and another thirty to have a team meeting and get changed. By the time those who are not doing injury rehab go out, they are dead sober and it is already midnight and they haven’t even been anywhere yet.
Remember here, we’re talking here about young men, who have spent the last two weeks with every minute accounted for. They have a full day off the next day with no training. The Brumbies had organized a secured hotel bus to pick them up from the club en masse at a predetermined series of times. And after two weeks of training/meetings/eating/rehab, everyone needs to let their hair down, or go they’ll go crazy cooped up in a hotel for yet another night. A few hours in contact with the punters at a club is not too much to ask.
No-one reports any skylarking or fooling around. Not the Brumbies, nor the police, nor the club staff who were first on the scene at the accident.
Shawn was simply, and horribly, struck by a speeding armoured security response vehicle whilst crossing the road. The car, which was en route to a security alarm, initially left the scene before returning some ten minutes later.
As I said, it’s rotten luck for a guy who has driven himself so hard to get to where he is today. Andy Friend recruited Macca after watching him run himself into the ground in Edinburgh at the Sevens last year. Macca repaid the faith by training the house down at the Brumbies and forcing his way into the squad.
He’ll need every ounce of that same determination to fight back from his horrific injuries, but if anyone can do it, it will be Macca.
He’s everyone’s mate, and probably the most relentless and upbeat guy I have known. I have no doubt that when he wakes up in a few days time, he’ll smile up from that hospital bed and say “I’ll be OK. You just gotta be positive”.
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(19)
LeftArmSpinner said | March 31st 2009 @ 7:01am | Report comment
I dont know Macca any more than just watching him play his rugby. I believe that you can tell much about a man by how he performs on the field, under fire and pressure.
By my observation, he is exactly as you describe. A team man, perpetual motion and giver on and off the field. Lets hope he makes a full and rapid recovery.
I thought it an indicative sign of the regard in which he is held by his teammates that they chose to remain in Durban this week.
Knives Out said | March 31st 2009 @ 7:03am | Report comment
They say that sport comes down to inches, well then so does life. Best wishes from Beckenham RFC.
Brendo said | March 31st 2009 @ 7:48am | Report comment
Very sad news… All the best to Macca and his family on the long road to recovery.
Bill Millard said | March 31st 2009 @ 7:49am | Report comment
Loges – I have never responded to anything on these types of sites but feel an urge to say a few things. Its very frustrating sitting here in Wales – not being able to do anything.
I was Head Coach of the Australian Sevens Team for 4 years and Macca was my Captain for most of those years. We went through some tough times together away from home and I got to know him on and off the field. A coaches delight!!
He was then the first player picked when I coached the Melbourne Rebels in the ARC. At that stage he had a nasty ankle/knee injury and was not expected to play in the ARC at all – it was a risky recruited move and if it was any other player – I wld not have even thought about it.. Mac worked so hard to get it right with our conditioners and medical staff and ended up playing a big role in our last 4 games.
Loges – you described the big man well in your article. I have seen him push his body to limits most guys would not know about – many many times. Once in LA – he was vomiting blood at 1/2 time and was officially gone after 2 big days (as we never subbed him) and NZ were 3 or 4 tries up – we had a young team and had run out of gas. Medical staff advised me to get Macca off – so I told him he was being replaced. He took me to one side and said – “dont even think abt it Billy – Im going to get into these Kiwis – we can f……..win this!!”. He then got the boys into a huddle and laid down the law. He went out and played the whole 2nd half and lead a great fight back – but we fell short. We literally carried Macca back into to the sheds.
God bless you big fella and I know you will fight hard and pull thru this.
sheek said | March 31st 2009 @ 9:01am | Report comment
Andrew,
Thank you for explaining why they might still be out & about at 4am. Among my first thoughts were – okay, you can get run over at any time of the day & night. But what were Brumbies players doing out & about at 4am, in-season?
You’ve described that. And apparently there was no skylarking, & they were reasonably sober. I guess it was just shocking bad luck. My brother was bowled over by a stolen car while halfway across a pedestrian crossing in broad afternoon daylight. He had a few drinks but was otherwise fine.
He was lucky, suffering a broken leg & a limp for a while but he made a full recovery. Maybe arthritis will bedevil his leg in old age, but otherwise he’s fine. So accidents do happen. Hopefully, Shawn Mackay will make a full recovery to lead a normal life.
A workmate knows his father & speaks highly of the family. We can only trust he will make a full recovery.
sheek said | March 31st 2009 @ 9:10am | Report comment
BTW,
A huge commendation to the du Plessis brothers – Jannie & Bismarck, who apparently were quickly on the scene & assisted. As someone involved in the emergency game, I understand how quick & correct intervention can make a huge difference, especially in potential spinal situations.
Andrew Logan said | March 31st 2009 @ 9:43am | Report comment
Sheek,
Unfortunately the never-ending flow of incidents with footballers leaves us with little sympathy when something does happen. When players are at home, then I think there is a little less scope for them to be out and about.
But unless you have been on tour for a couple of weeks with a professional sporting team, you don’t really understand how stifling that environment can become. Part of being a good coaching/management team, is knowing when to let the team off the leash so that they can get some down time and just enjoy being overseas in a new place, and meeting the locals.
The thing to remember is, if it was an afternoon game which finished at 5pm, and the players went out for 4 hours from 8 o’clock until midnight, no-one would even think twice about it. Unfortunately the timing doesn’t allow the players to get out much before midnight – and if they don’t take that opportunity, there may not be another one on that tour.
Touring is fun in parts, but stifling at times, and for the majority of the time, it’s just plain hard work. Clearly the Brumbies made every effort to ensure the players were safe. They all went to the one place so that players weren’t wandering around town late at night, and organised a hotel bus to pick them all up at the same time.
All in all, just terribly unfortunate. But as Billy Millard says above Macca just doesn’t know how to quit. If anyone can pull through, he can.
Robbie said | March 31st 2009 @ 10:19am | Report comment
Nice one Loges…..fingers crossed for a full recovery
Robbie
Worlds Biggest said | March 31st 2009 @ 10:35am | Report comment
Thoughts and prayers for his family and fingers crossed he makes a full recovery. Sounds like he doesn’t know how to quit.
Brett McKay said | March 31st 2009 @ 11:18am | Report comment
A really nice article Andrew, and great also to read Billy Millard’s words in support.
I certainly wish Shawn all the best for a full and speedy recovery, and I’m quite sure the Brumbies will miss not just his on-field impact, but after reading these words, his off-field presence as well.
Fernie said | March 31st 2009 @ 7:58pm | Report comment
Amen.
Jameswm said | April 1st 2009 @ 9:14am | Report comment
I’m too upset by the whole incident to write anything meaningful, and I didn’t even know the guy other than watching him on TV. It’s obviously horrible for those who know him and all I can do is hope, like everyone else, he can make as close to a full recovery as possible.
Cutter said | April 2nd 2009 @ 3:32am | Report comment
He sounds like one of those blokes that there arent enough of. Lets hope he recovers to be an example again.
OldManEmu said | April 2nd 2009 @ 8:42am | Report comment
Brilliant article Loges. Thanks for the insight into this obviously special bloke. Pray he is okay.
Andrew Logan said | April 6th 2009 @ 12:43pm | Report comment
The worst possible news confirmed this morning…..the below from Fox Sports…
Brumbies lock Shawn Mackay dies in Durban hospital
April 06, 2009 Brumbies Super 14 rugby player Shawn Mackay has died in a Durban hospital.
Mackay, 26, died at about 11am EST, having suffered a cardiac arrest, a Brumbies spokesman said.
He had been in hospital, critically ill with multiple injuries, since the early hours of March 29 when he was hit by an armed response car in a Durban street.
He had shown some positive signs after being brought out of a medically induced coma late last week and underwent surgery.
“After his surgery Shawn contracted an infection in his bloodstream,” said Brumbies chief executive Andrew Fagan.
“He deteriorated rapidly and suffered a cardiac arrest from which he didn’t recover.”
More to come.
AAP
Worlds Biggest said | April 6th 2009 @ 12:43pm | Report comment
Just read the tragic news of Shawn’s passing. Just a terrible loss for his family, friends and the Rugby community. He sounded like a champion. Thoughts and prayers go out to all his family and friends.
Roger said | April 6th 2009 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
Rest in peace Macca.
OldManEmu said | April 6th 2009 @ 2:56pm | Report comment
I will be dedicating this season to not being a sapper in memory of Shawn Mackay. This is seriously sad news.
Chop said | April 6th 2009 @ 3:12pm | Report comment
Sounds like the Brumbies, Rugby and Australia lost one of the good guys. You can’t help but stop and think about the family and friends he has left behind by departing this Earth way to early.
My condolences to all who knew him as a team mate, family member of just a good mate.