McLean Report

[Turtle188]

do the two refs get 7 weeks as well for not calling held?

Did anyone else notice how quick the calls were this week?

[LESStar58]

I think the backlash in the media will be enough for the NRL to know they got it wrong but won't give a toss.

Agree about appeal. Let it go. Jordan needs to get hia head right. I hope he cops it and gets whatever support he needs.

[blazza18]

What's important now is making sure Jordan is ok. Missing 7 weeks means very little in the grand scheme of things.

[mattstormy]

There is nothing we can do about the outcome for Jordan McLean, all this anger over the NRL is not going to do anything positive. Let's just hope Jordan can cop what he gets for it and move on with his life and not have to be reminded about this tragic incident again after his suspension.

One of the things I can't get my head around is that this is now the third very serious on field incident involving a Melbourne Storm player in less than 15 years (first Stephen Kearney's and Marcus Bai's spear tackle on Jarrod McCracken in 2000, second Danny Williams' king hit on Mark O'Neill in 2004 and now this almost 10 years later).

We (as in you and I) might not be able to do anything about the outcome for Jordan, but if our club doesn't fight this appalling ruling by a pathetic judiciary then they are just as much of a joke as the NRL itself. As bushman said, they need to fight this for Jordan and because it is flat out wrong.

Also, I'm not sure if you're trying to imply something with your last paragraph... what can't you get your head around?

Firstly, I like everyone is disgusted by the way Jordan McLean is being made a scapegoat by the NRL, however we all know what the judiciary is like (remember Cam Smith missing the 2008 GF). There is absolutely nothing anyone can do to change their decision. We can complain all we want and the club can fight the suspension, however like always it is highly unlikely they are going to change their mind.

Secondly, what I'm trying to say about the three incidents that have happened is that I can't think of any other club that has had the number of very serious on field incidents in the past 15 years.

[Mattpoet]

Williams was concussed, so I think we can safely say that that should never happen again if the new rules are followed.

McLean, I think we all agree, executed a tackle that had an unfortunate outcome, but, had no malice or intent in it.

Kearney/Bai was clearly the worst of the three as far as I'm concerned.

I think that, whilst you may be right about the number of incidents, only one of them was truly reckless as opposed to negligent or the result of extenuating circumstances.

[Turtle188]

What pisses me off big time is the identical tackle on Norrie in the 1st minute of the game. Any suspensions? Of course not! Emotion has completely biased this whole unfortunate episode.

[Run Sika Run]

The Storm have a duty of care to Mc Lean and need to fight the 7 weeks suspension.We dont follow a team who leave there players hanging out to dry.

[yourhero]

The Storm have a duty of care to Mc Lean and need to fight the 7 weeks suspension.We dont follow a team who leave there players hanging out to dry.

Agreed. I do not buy into the whole "move on" thing.

If we move on and Jordan is significantly affected emotionally and something bad happens, the club would have failed in their duty of care to Jordan. The NRL already has failed (given the mickey mouse nature of this competition, that is to be expected though). We need our club staunchly behind Jordan and not allow the NRL to lay the blame for this horrific accident on his head.

The club and Jordan obviously feel that this is not right. The fact that a poor bloke is laying is a hospital unable to move, should not influence the decision of the club to appeal.

I will be very disappointed if the club just let it slide.

[Chip]

I don't think the club will let it slide but I do think they, along woth jordan, will decide what's in his best interests and that may well be not appealing. I'd like to see them make a statement from the club and Jordan (as they did for T with the SBW Kiwis fiasco) which takes the pressure off the player to have to front the media etc. Jordan will respond personally in his own good time. I admire the way Storm surrounds their players with a 'force field' of protection in this manner and refuses to kowtow to the vultures out there that call for reactive responses. I'm certain they will do that for Jordan and while we might not get the satisfaction of what we see as a fair fight back, we can accept that they will have Jordan as their priority whatever they do.
I'm only speculating about what they will do next but I'd be ok with the above.

[tugga]

The club won't appeal. It is simply not worth the bad publicity and the ill will that would come from it.
The best thing the club can do it support Jordan as much as it possibly can.
A young man will not walk again. Missing 7 weeks of footy is nothing in comparison.

[tugga]

The other reason why the club shouldn't appeal (in my opinion) is that it puts Jordan through all that a second time. The decision won't be overturned and Jordan has to sit through it all again. It would be cruel.

[Scooter]

I agree with Tugga I don't want the Storm to appeal. It would just put Jordan through it again and make Storm look arrogant and unsympathetic. Plus I don't think there is much upside.

Give him all the support he needs. Even let him go and spend a couple weeks with his mum, if that is what's best for him.

I know this is a different situation but Jordan showed his resilience with his horrific hamstring injuries. Hopefully he can get away from the media spotlight and come back bigger and better than ever.

[sallymay]

Same here...I don't think Jordan needs to go through it again

[storm77]

Welcome to the ECTFL as in the East Coast Touch Football League because that is what the NRL has become.

They have become just like the NFL in that one of the great criticisms of that league has been the attempted legislating of defense out of the game.
With every passing year they are making it harder and harder to play defense because tackling either leads to a penalty for staying on the player to long of a penalty for a player going past the vertical even if it is only slightly or a penalty for lifting even if there is nothing in it or a penalty for hands on the ball or lose ball carries getting penalized for strips.
The game is now basically played inside the twenties. A team get's the ball down there end of the field. One of the million reasons for calling a penalty against the defense is whistled and all of a sudden we are inside the oppositions twenty.
They have also taken all the gladiatorial aspects of the game away.
I love the Storm but I HATE what has become of the game.
Rugby League like all supposed contact sports has an inherent aspect of risk. That is part of what makes it the sport that it is. You can't legislate against that risk and therefor the physicality of the game without changing the very fabric of it.
What happened was one of those inherent risks. The tackle was fine. Injuries are going to happen. Unfortunately there will be an occasional bad one but that is just part of the game. Every player knows that. It's part of the game you accept in order to play it.
What happens now, a player blows out their knee in a tackle and the players involved in making the tackle get suspended because that would be no more their fault then what happened to AM was JM's fault. It was an accident.
The NRL is an absolute joke.

[tugga]

Welcome to the ECTFL as in the East Coast Touch Football League because that is what the NRL has become.

They have become just like the NFL in that one of the great criticisms of that league has been the attempted legislating of defense out of the game.
With every passing year they are making it harder and harder to play defense because tackling either leads to a penalty for staying on the player to long of a penalty for a player going past the vertical even if it is only slightly or a penalty for lifting even if there is nothing in it or a penalty for hands on the ball or lose ball carries getting penalized for strips.
The game is now basically played inside the twenties. A team get's the ball down there end of the field. One of the million reasons for calling a penalty against the defense is whistled and all of a sudden we are inside the oppositions twenty.
They have also taken all the gladiatorial aspects of the game away.
I love the Storm but I HATE what has become of the game.
Rugby League like all supposed contact sports has an inherent aspect of risk. That is part of what makes it the sport that it is. You can't legislate against that risk and therefor the physicality of the game without changing the very fabric of it.
What happened was one of those inherent risks. The tackle was fine. Injuries are going to happen. Unfortunately there will be an occasional bad one but that is just part of the game. Every player knows that. It's part of the game you accept in order to play it.
What happens now, a player blows out their knee in a tackle and the players involved in making the tackle get suspended because that would be no more their fault then what happened to AM was JM's fault. It was an accident.
The NRL is an absolute joke.

The main thing that attracted me to rugby league was that the AFL went soft and I found what I missed out on in the AFL, I could get it in the NRL.
That's a fact of life for a lot of AFL fans.
I still follow both codes, but they are both becoming as soft as each other.