- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Last Thursday it was revealed that Alex McKinnon had taken legal advice on whether to not to sue the NRL for a spinal injury.
Caused in a three-on-one lifting tackle last season, the NRL judiciary ruled it an illegal dangerous throw and suspended Melbourne prop Jordan McLean for seven weeks.
Journalists almost universally supported McKinnon’s legal right to sue for damages on the grounds that the NRL had failed to provide a safe workplace. Under those articles in the comments sections, up to half of the vocal keyboard warriors gave McKinnon a big thumbs down.
The first argument was that players accept the risks when they play and that the game is going soft. The second was outrage that McKinnon was so ungrateful for the $1 million raised by fans that he ought to give every penny back if legal action was successful.
Alex McKinnon should take legal action against himself for ducking his head in that tackle. So much for the fundraising on his behalf.
— J.ust R.un (@JR_risen92) May 14, 2015
It defies logic. Nobody, including the naysaying keyboard warriors, goes to work expecting to come home injured.
During an interview with Andrew Webber, Phil Gould said that, “It’s hard for the league to indemnify you against that (spinal injury) risk.” His argument doesn’t hold water. Numerous complex and unpredictable work environments manage risk and reduce associated injuries in two ways.
One is primary school maths. The injury rate – the number of injuries per 10,000 hours worked – is the baseline for continuous improvement. If the NRL isn’t doing this basic risk management, professional and amateur players should be extremely concerned.
The other is compliance. The first purpose of rules, in sport and workplaces, is to protect people. Going home uninjured – from any job – relies on a collective commitment to play by the rules. It doesn’t help anyone to blame McLean but the injury happened because play went outside the rules.
In the same interview, Gould used the example of Penrith player John Farragher, who was paralysed in the 1970s, as an example of league looking after its own. Farragher has been employed by Panthers ever since and his care paid for by a foundation set up by the club.
It was absolutely the right thing for the club to do and has put Farragher in a far better position than most players who had pre-professionalism spinal injuries in the days before professionalism.
Regardless, the discretionary support of NRL clubs and the kindness of strangers is no guarantee of care for life, which could cost McKinnon around $200,000 a year before everyday living expenses.
The daily work involved in caring for a quadriplegic body is endless. Manually emptying the bowel, managing catheterisation, the constant risk of chest infections, monitoring kidneys that are vulnerable to numerous malfunctions are a few of the daily professional care tasks.
When that care is not provided by paid staff, it falls to already stretched families to give up their jobs to become full-time carers. If suing is what McKinnon has to do to pay for his own care, freeing up public health dollars for other quadriplegics, how can it be a bad thing?
The outrage pointed at McKinnon for taking the one million dollars raised by fans should be wholly redirected at the NRL. If they had a scheme in place – and it needs to go beyond discretionary arrangements between individuals and clubs – fans would have known that their money wasn’t needed. They should be furious that donations were needed at all.
Meeting their duty to pay for lifetime care of injured players won’t hurt the NRL. It’s a legitimate business expense and they need to budget for it like other businesses do.
Don’t forget, the NRL made $50 million profit in 2013 and again in 2014. They’ve just increased their gambling income to $10-12 million annually. Taking on the business expense of caring for injured employees is small beer.
The reality is that if McKinnon has to resort to legal remedies, it will be because the extremely wealthy NRL has forced his hand by not putting an equitable offer on the table that guarantees him lifetime care. If they can’t do this without the courts being involved, shame on them.
Finally, I’ve got a challenge for all those armchair critics who say it’s too much money, that he knew the risks and that the game has gone soft. Find a family caring for a quadriplegic person. Spend just a few hours helping them start the day. Empty that person’s bowel for them. Get them out of bed, bathed, dressed and fed. Do it with good grace and respect for their dignity.
Then get back to me.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.