General Alex McKinnon may sue the NRL & The Melbourne Storm

[Blain]

It's totally a touchy topic.. The fact now he is suing everyone involved, it needs to be looked at and considered.



This is a good video, most of the tackles shown could have resulted in the same thing.

 

[Sup42]

You get placed in A position where your head is going to impact the ground at speed, you are air born,....several arms are pinning you from arm to leg....you can't put your arms out to stop it, the ground races toward the pending face plant.....it is Australian hard concrete with grass on top.......


Good luck arguing anything the guy did in that situation wasn't a reflex to save himself in an illegal dangerous incident.

Who cares if tucking his head under caused his spine to be in a position where the illegal participants could then go on to break that spine

You are flying in a plane, the pilot does an illegal manoeuvre causing the plane to crash.....you brace for impact using the recommended technique to protect your head, you don't get into position in time.....your paralysed on impact.

Who's at fault ? Your bad bracing technique. Or the Pilot.....oh wait...the NRL don't have a bracing technique for being lifted and dumped on your head illegally anyhow.....

Who does the Passenger suit ? Pilot or Airline or both ?

 

[wazzas]

Managed to find this which shows the cost, not sure where the $20m comes from considering he has already received a lot of financial support that the regular citizen would not receive.

 

[bruce]

You get placed in A position where your head is going to impact the ground at speed, you are air born,....several arms are pinning you from arm to leg....you can't put your arms out to stop it, the ground races toward the pending face plant.....it is Australian hard concrete with grass on top.......


Good luck arguing anything the guy did in that situation wasn't a reflex to save himself in an illegal dangerous incident.

Who cares if tucking his head under caused his spine to be in a position where the illegal participants could then go on to break that spine

You are flying in a plane, the pilot does an illegal manoeuvre causing the plane to crash.....you brace for impact using the recommended technique to protect your head, you don't get into position in time.....your paralysed on impact.

Who's at fault ? Your bad bracing technique. Or the Pilot.....oh wait...the NRL don't have a bracing technique for being lifted and dumped on your head illegally anyhow.....

Who does the Passenger suit ? Pilot or Airline or both ?

That would all be argued in any legal action.

 

[eric]

Managed to find this which shows the cost, not sure where the $20m comes from considering he has already received a lot of financial support that the regular citizen would not receive. View attachment 22201

He's not in the same boat as us middle class losers. He was a pro sports player.

 

[kabkram]

It's like arguing about how long is a piece of string, does this mean that Ben Henry can sue because he had career ending injuries? Chase Stanley?Jharal Yow Yeh? These players get the best medical treatment money can buy, you try getting in for a scan in the time these guys do almost impossible. You have former legends of the game now almost crippled not through one injury but a career of broken this, torn that, ruptured it again, fuck it give me a shot the team needs me I'll play through it.
And for a lot of players this is it there is no fullback option, all the eggs are in one basket league star or bust. And in the end I don't think this is about Alex suing the NRL this is about his insurance company balking at meeting it's responsibilities and trying to share the burden.

 

[frankspence]

I still believe he intentionally tried to milk a penalty...

Yeah seen Greg Inglis do it a few times too. He'd milk the penalty and get the players suspended.

 

[Tim burgess]

It could get messy for all parties involved, especially for Alex and Jordan Mclean.
How will this effect Jordan!

The NRL will bounce back. I beliwve the sports lawyer Tim Horan pointed out in the SMH yesterday he may lose the claim against the NRL.

Other issue for Alex is that his support from the game may stop by submitting a claim.. Thus leaving him in the lurch financially especially as Jordan will not have the funds to pay him a significant claim.

Interesting time ahead for all parties involved.

 

[Gizzyfan]

I wonder what if any significance there is to the timing of this. Has something happened that has caused this.

I would be surprised if he didn't have some very good legal advice from the time of the incident. Which brings me back to why now.

 

[tajhay]

From another perspective, arent all players in the NRL treated as contractors? And as such, they should all have Indemnity Insurance? Anyone know if they do? If the players get paid out of an umbrella company (assuming sports players dont setup their own independent contractor businesses here) which would probably be their sports agency, the agency would definitely have such an insurance.

Gonna be disappointed if Jordan Mclean is personally out of pocket as a result of all this. Young bloke does not deserve this.

 

[bruce]

It could get messy for all parties involved, especially for Alex and Jordan Mclean.
How will this effect Jordan!

The NRL will bounce back. I beliwve the sports lawyer Tim Horan pointed out in the SMH yesterday he may lose the claim against the NRL.

Other issue for Alex is that his support from the game may stop by submitting a claim.. Thus leaving him in the lurch financially especially as Jordan will not have the funds to pay him a significant claim.

Interesting time ahead for all parties involved.

The usual practice when there is a possibility of suing somebody is not to accept anything at all that might be regarded as a form of settlement. The Knights are owned by the NRL and are paying him income. Personally I question the legal advice he has been given. I say question in that there might be more to this than meets the eye.

 

[mt.wellington]

-interesting how many people on here are suggesting McKinnon's actions contributed to the injury in this accident... I distinctly remember being pretty soundly derided and dragged over the coals on this site for even suggesting that at the time.

You sure? A few on here held that opinion including myself. You might have been too savage about it lol...

Yeah seen Greg Inglis do it a few times too. He'd milk the penalty and get the players suspended.

A few weeks preceding this incident Greg Inglis purposely flipped himself over and received a penalty. Josh Reynolds did it the week after a got a penalty that won them the game. McKinnon tried but did so very late and without propelling himself as the other two had done. He fucked it up and paid a high price...

 

[Jordan G]

I don't think anyone can say McKinnon with absolute certainty tucked his head searching for a penalty. I'd be more inclined to say he panicked a bit and did what was instinctive, which would be to tuck your head inward if you felt your feet going over your head.

 

[drunk_monk]

The weird thing is everything pro-him suing I have read starts mentioning the facts about how he's suing the NRL and McLean, but then when it makes the points never addresses McLean.

It says stuff like the NRL is a multibillion dollar company, but McLean isn't.

 

[cro.warrior]

If Alex's law suit is unsuccessful, who pays massive legal bill?

 

[kabkram]

If Alex's law suit is unsuccessful, who pays massive legal bill?

That would depend if the suing is his insurance company's idea where I'd imagine they'd have to pick up the tab, or if it's one of the dozens of lawyer firms over here offering no win no fee, of course that's a double edged sword with the lawyers getting the lion's share of any settlement made.

 

[wazzas]

I honestly think Alex contributed towards the injury more than any other person or party. I'm sure the courts will not take into account emotion or the extent of the injury because rugby league is a risky sport that is acknowledged by the athletes. He may be able to retrieve a small sum from the NRL for not coming down harder on the tip tackles, but I just cannot see how the courts will just neglect the massive role Alex played in these tragic circumstances unfolding.

 

[cro.warrior]

In my view. That tackle never looked like it will land him on his head, until he ducked his head.

 

[snake77]

I say question in that there might be more to this than meets the eye.

He's going to transform into a car?

Josh Reynolds did it the week after a got a penalty that won them the game. McKinnon tried but did so very late and without propelling himself as the other two had done.

That was against us wasn't it? I should sue for spoiling my weekend.

When this first came to light a year or so back I thought gee that is pretty rough after all of the funding he has been given by the NRL, the Knights, fund raising with Rise for Alex rounds. If he does need to sue to get the money needed for his care that he needs I can start to see it. Hopefully Maclean being brought into it is more due to being involved with the incident and not any sort of financial payout from his side.

Maclean has been through a lot himself having to live with what happened.

Like others have mentioned he has already gotten a lot of financial assistance due to the high profile nature of the incident. If it happened at the local field he wouldn't have had any of that. I know of a kid who this year lost the use of her legs and like bruce has mentioned ACC meets a lot of the costs but I don't believe it costs $100k for her to get out of bed like McKinnon has mentioned. It could be a case of due to her age she can be lifted while McKinnon is doing it himself through some sort of machinery.

 

[Wellington Warrior]

I'm interested in whether the NRL defend the charges and what tactics they use.....or have I just been binge watching waaaay too much Harvey Spector in Suits???