With the Alex McKinnon tackle coming back in the spotlight, the Melbourne Storm and their captain, Cameron Smith have certainly copped it from the media and the fans on social media.
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If you can move away from simply labelling Smith as a ‘grub’ or a ‘wanker’ for a minute, or before you defend him, take your supporters hat off, whatever colour it might be and ask whether the way he behaved on the field was acceptable.
From the start, Smith and the Melbourne Storm have gone to great lengths to try and justify their actions, rather than stand up and take responsibility.
In the heat of the moment, we’ve all done things we’re not proud of, so Smith could be forgiven if he looked back at the footage and could say, ‘‘yeah, maybe I was out of line and I should have just accepted the penalty.’’
The opportunity has been there from the beginning, but more than a year on he has failed to take the chance and the latest press release from the Melbourne Storm looks to be an indication he will never do so.
The one thing that keeps emerging, the thing is supposed to make us forgive the Storm and justify Smith’s behaviour is that they did not know the extent of the injury at the time.
Well, neither did anyone else, including referees, Gerard Sutton and Gavin Morris, but they still deemed that the tackle warranted a penalty.
How is not knowing the extent of the injury an excuse for questioning the refs for almost 10 minutes about a penalty?
Granted, captains should have the right to at least ask why a penalty has been awarded or why a try was or was not given, but once the ref has given their response, accept it.
How many times has a referee changed their decision due to persistent questioning from the captain?
What was Smith ever going to achieve from his outburst and how was this an acceptable response from a captain?
Take the severity out of the injury out of it and think about it for a moment.
Even if McKinnon had been able to get to his feet and play the ball, it was still a lifting tackle and a penalty should have been given.
The referees didn’t bring the extent of injury into it when they awarded the penalty, so why is that still the excuse from Smith and the Storm?
All the Storm are doing is trying to shift the blame onto anyone but themselves.
If Smith could take a look back at the footage of his reaction and acknowledge that his behaviour was unacceptable, maybe people would start to forgive him.
If you think there is nothing to apologise for because it wouldn’t have happened if McKinnon hadn’t ducked his head, consider it from the other side.
If he had not been put in a comprimising position in the tackle in the first place, the issue of whether he ducks his head wouldn’t even come into play.
If Smith cannot apologise for his actions on the field, then he cannot expect to be forgiven by McKinnon or the public.
Finally, for those who think McKinnon was out of line during his appearance of 60 Minutes for describing Smith’s actions as ‘‘disgusting," take a deep breath.
Try and see it from his perspective and then consider how you would react under the same circumstances.