McKinnon a victim of extreme courage

We live in an age of certainty. Or we like to think so.

It is an age in which we no longer shake our heads in awe at the miraculous technology that allow us to find a few scraps of metal in a remote ocean and identify them as the wreckage of a missing aeroplane. Instead we wonder how a spec could go missing from the radar and why it took so long to find.

Such certainty does not allow for mishaps. It leads us to believe accidents don't happen. To conclude there is always something that should have been done to prevent chaos; or that something can be done to make sure it never happens again.

In this age of certainty the horrible injuries suffered by Newcastle's Alex McKinnon challenge our smug self-assurance. They defy the belief that we can legislate against danger. That we can retain the sense of peril that remains one of the most compelling elements of a still brutal sport, but avoid the casualties.

Now here is young McKinnon. Lying prone in an induced coma in a Melbourne hospital. A sad and uncomfortable reminder of the inevitable price to be paid for the ferocity and physicality that is rugby league's essential point of difference.

Yes, rugby league is not as rough as it once was. The game is faster and more athletic. On the same weekend McKinnon was injured, Brett Morris performed a piece of try-scoring gymnastics to rival Nadia Comaneci. Fortunately he stuck the landing.

You can't question the courage of a rugby league player. Alex McKinnon in action for Newcastle earlier this year. Source: News Limited

The NRL now sets the bar high. Immense physical attributes are required to reach the highest level. Pace, skill, size, raw power. But you can have the whole package and it still doesn't matter unless you have heart. Unless you can defy the reasonable assumption that sooner AND later it will hurt.

I used to watch Melbourne Storm training sessions from behind the posts. The last drill was always a series of high balls under which Billy Slater and his fellow backs would stand flat-footed, while the forwards charged at them with murderous intent. Jeff Lima, a human canon ball, took particular delight testing his smaller teammates' mettle.

I liked standing as close as I could because the next time I wrote about the game I had some idea what was going through the mind of the hapless fullback when he muffed a "simple take''. It reminded me that I would sooner stand between Kyle Sandilands and a breakfast buffet than have several hundred kilograms of prime forward charging at me.

There are countless other moments in the game where danger is real. Put 26 muscular, highly motivated athletes on either side of a line and you don't need a risk assessment expert to tell you that more than egos will be bruised.

The ability to endure pain and confront the possibility — even probability — of serious injury is what separates the real warriors from the couch variety. It is why the mere willingness to cross the line is the source of deep admiration.

Rightly we have tried to minimise the risks. We have legislated against the cheap shots, the shoulder charges and, as far as possible, the dangerous tackles that made an already brutal game unjustifiably dangerous. Especially now that the muscularity and speed of the athletes alone makes the head-on clashes so bone-jarring.

But despite reflexive calls to ban three-man tackles or harshly punish those who inflict serious injury in the wake of McKinnon's trauma, we cannot remove chance. We cannot guarantee that a heavy hit or a jarring tackle will not cause injury. Possibly a horrible and life-altering injury.

Not if rugby league, and other contact sports, are to retain their essential character. Not if they are to remain a test of courage as well as sheer skill and athleticism.

Given the chilling nature of McKinnon's injury, we are entitled to ask if the price for that is too high. Sport presents other tests without leaving its practitioners broken.

About the worst thing most golfers suffer is a sprained wrist from hacking the ball out of long rough. Yet the mental examination is gruelling.

Last week Adam Scott was labelled a "choker'' by some because he blew an eight shot lead in a USPGA Tour event. Less than a year after he won a play-off at Augusta with the weight of Australia's tragic Masters history on his shoulders.

Golf's scars are mental. Rugby leagues are all too real. All the more shocking because, despite our best efforts, they are often unavoidable. An unspoken yet very real part of the game.

From every angle I've seen, and from the testament of far more learned observers, McKinnon is the tragic victim of a terrible accident. He is also a victim of the immense courage required to step on the field. Sometimes what happens out there, where the stout-hearted go, is beyond our control.

Big things will be expected of Australia and Ange Postecoglou at the Asian Football Cup. Source: Getty Images

ASIAN CUP TO POSE A HOST OF QUESTIONS

The draw for the Asian Football Cup at the Opera House last week was made without too much fuss. Not when you consider there was several squillion dollars worth of Asian footballing nobility in the concert hall.

Australia drew — cue the drum roll — a group of death.

Well, a group of potential hazard with South Korea pitched in alongside the less foreboding Oman and Kuwait.

Understandably, with the World Cup in Brazil approaching, the Asian Cup has flown under the radar.

The thought of matches involving nations such as North Korea and Saudi Arabia aren't exactly setting pulses racing, with the Socceroos set to take on the might of Spain, The Netherlands and Chile in Brazil.

Still, within football circles, there is a strong belief the Asian Cup — not the World Cup — will provide the first realistic challenge for Ange Postecoglou's regenerating team.

It is not an idea the new coach publicly embraces. Postecoglou is acutely aware the cupboard of talented players is bare, and constantly reminded of the extremely low expectations of his team in Brazil.

Yet he insists he will demand a competitive performance from his callow squad.

But the Asian Cup might shine an even harsher light on the Socceroos. Losing to three teams ranked in the world's top 12 in Brazil is one thing. Stumbling against Asian neighbours on home turf is quite another

That the Asian Cup starts in January, head-to-head with the BBL, adds some more intrigue.

Ticket sales will be launched this week.

On and off the park, the tournament shapes as a stern test of football's growth.

Will James Hird survive as Essendon coach if his players receive infraction notices. Source: News Corp Australia

HIRD'S LONG TERM SURVIVAL STILL IN THE LAP OF THE GODS

ESSENDON'S coach in exile, James Hird, has survived the consequences of his own bitter reprisals.

Despite the calculated attacks of his family and associates on the AFL, whose sanctions he accepted last year, Hird retained the lucrative contract extension he was granted despite his failure to adequately supervise the club's supplements regime.

Still, the question remains; Will Hird survive if his players receive infraction notices, and will his devoted cheerleaders remain so supportive?

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