Intesticle Fortidue...Now That's Commitment.
June 13th 2007 05:43
Following on from my last post about Stephen Larkham (...yeah...which one?...I heard that...), some of the comments made me think of other injuries sustained by SL...and by others...playing Rugby and in other ways.
Okay...Rugby is a tough game. It's a contact sport, of course there's going to be injuries but before I go further, please understand one thing...Rugby players are trained to withstand injury. Their muscles are trained to 'boing'...bounce off an injury.
(All athletes are but because they're professional athletes, there will be more wear and tear on the body due to constant use and battering.)
Rugby may be perceived as a violent sport but the ‘violence’ is controlled, the aggressiveness is trained and restrained and 'focused'.
Rugby is a game of mental acuity embodied by physical prowess.
Yes there have been some bad injuries but these are anomolies.
NB: children do not tackle and engage in scrums til a certain age and even then they have different laws 'til about 19
Anyway...this is not meant to be a serious post. It's a post like all my other ones...tee hee...
Larkham's nose injury is truly not that big a deal. Not in comparison to other injuries he has had to deal with. He's a Rugby player and even though he is considered 'fragile' he is still a Rugby player and he is still, by human standards....superhuman.
Backs are more prone to injury because of their body shape. They are generally leaner and faster than Forwards who need to be brick walls. And Forwards very rarely get injured. Their muscles are thicker than steel. Their bones are made of steel.
Their nerves...yep...steel.
Which is why I pay SL the highest compliment of having the heart of a Forward. He knows he's going to get injured, he knows that he gets marked, he is always the target of giant Forwards, he always gets battered...but....he's a damn speedball. Gets pounded time and time again but always rebounds.
As for Gregan...he may be small....but he's never let that get in the way of a good tackle on a player twice his size. Right Jonah?
Actually Gregan hardly ever gets injured. he is considered, relatively speaking, the strongest of the squad, muscle-height ratio wise.
DDH is a former player, a Prop Forward and his shoulders and thighs are huge...still...and at 6'2" and 100kg, he considers himself 'small' for a Forward but the only injuries he had on a Rugby field were broken noses.
His biggest injury came from waterskiing. He used to race. And hitting the water at 200kmh...well....think concrete. Think broken ribs.
Think playing Rugby and getting tackled and engaging in a scrum with broken ribs.
Our family is big on what some people call extreme sports. We waterski, snowski, play Rugby and I love shopping at sales...
Hey. It's dangerous to get between a woman and something she really really has to have....that's now half price.
I haven't sustained any major sporting injuries.
I broke my right foot playing hockey...it was hanging on by a thread of my little toe bone... totally cool...and then I fainted.
I fell off my motorbike once...pretending to be Doohan overtaking Wayne Rainey and becoming the 500cc World Champion...BUT...I wasn't actually moving at that stage.
I just kinda....fell. Standing astride my bike. In the driveway. Hadn't even turned on the ignition.
....hysterical laughter!!!!!!!!!
...but yes I have fallen off my bike whilst actually moving but I like the above story better.
Waterskiing...don't go fast enough to turn water into concrete...water doesn't hurt at 80km. Much.
Snowskiing...well the only injury done has been to my pride. It really sucks when a jump goes bad...and skis go flying....and you're faceplanted, eating snow....
...as much as I hate to admit this...I haven't had any major Rugby injury. Just bruises. Bummer.
It's all about commitment. If you want to do something well...whatever it is...you have to commit it to it. You have to see it through. You have to put your brain and body on the line.
This is a Rugby players creed. Commit Thyself. First On field. Then To An Asylum....
BUT...if you really want to know what it means to be a Rugby player, then I can only cite this player's story.
And although I hate the fact that he is an All Black (NZ national team...not that important really...!)...the respect and awe Rugby fans feel for this man...and the pain other men feel in sympathy.....oh man......
Wayne 'Buck' Shelford is a former All Black captain ('87-'90) credited with 'refining' the traditional 'Ka Mate' haka the ABs' perform before the start of their matches.
Shelford was a good player and an excellent captain. He led by example...and oh God. What. An. Example.
...and this good people....is INTESTINAL FORTITUDE......
It was during only his second test for the All Blacks that he suffered a ripped scrotum after being rucked by a French player, which left one testicle hanging free.
He also lost four teeth during the ruck.
After discovering the injury to his scrotum, he calmly asked the physio to stitch up the tear and returned to the field and played out the rest of the game, which the All Blacks lost.
Well sportsfans...beat that.
Okay...Rugby is a tough game. It's a contact sport, of course there's going to be injuries but before I go further, please understand one thing...Rugby players are trained to withstand injury. Their muscles are trained to 'boing'...bounce off an injury.
(All athletes are but because they're professional athletes, there will be more wear and tear on the body due to constant use and battering.)
Rugby may be perceived as a violent sport but the ‘violence’ is controlled, the aggressiveness is trained and restrained and 'focused'.
Rugby is a game of mental acuity embodied by physical prowess.
Yes there have been some bad injuries but these are anomolies.
NB: children do not tackle and engage in scrums til a certain age and even then they have different laws 'til about 19
Anyway...this is not meant to be a serious post. It's a post like all my other ones...tee hee...
Larkham's nose injury is truly not that big a deal. Not in comparison to other injuries he has had to deal with. He's a Rugby player and even though he is considered 'fragile' he is still a Rugby player and he is still, by human standards....superhuman.
Backs are more prone to injury because of their body shape. They are generally leaner and faster than Forwards who need to be brick walls. And Forwards very rarely get injured. Their muscles are thicker than steel. Their bones are made of steel.
Their nerves...yep...steel.
Which is why I pay SL the highest compliment of having the heart of a Forward. He knows he's going to get injured, he knows that he gets marked, he is always the target of giant Forwards, he always gets battered...but....he's a damn speedball. Gets pounded time and time again but always rebounds.
As for Gregan...he may be small....but he's never let that get in the way of a good tackle on a player twice his size. Right Jonah?
Actually Gregan hardly ever gets injured. he is considered, relatively speaking, the strongest of the squad, muscle-height ratio wise.
DDH is a former player, a Prop Forward and his shoulders and thighs are huge...still...and at 6'2" and 100kg, he considers himself 'small' for a Forward but the only injuries he had on a Rugby field were broken noses.
His biggest injury came from waterskiing. He used to race. And hitting the water at 200kmh...well....think concrete. Think broken ribs.
Think playing Rugby and getting tackled and engaging in a scrum with broken ribs.
Our family is big on what some people call extreme sports. We waterski, snowski, play Rugby and I love shopping at sales...
Hey. It's dangerous to get between a woman and something she really really has to have....that's now half price.
I haven't sustained any major sporting injuries.
I broke my right foot playing hockey...it was hanging on by a thread of my little toe bone... totally cool...and then I fainted.
I fell off my motorbike once...pretending to be Doohan overtaking Wayne Rainey and becoming the 500cc World Champion...BUT...I wasn't actually moving at that stage.
I just kinda....fell. Standing astride my bike. In the driveway. Hadn't even turned on the ignition.
....hysterical laughter!!!!!!!!!
...but yes I have fallen off my bike whilst actually moving but I like the above story better.
Waterskiing...don't go fast enough to turn water into concrete...water doesn't hurt at 80km. Much.
Snowskiing...well the only injury done has been to my pride. It really sucks when a jump goes bad...and skis go flying....and you're faceplanted, eating snow....
...as much as I hate to admit this...I haven't had any major Rugby injury. Just bruises. Bummer.
It's all about commitment. If you want to do something well...whatever it is...you have to commit it to it. You have to see it through. You have to put your brain and body on the line.
This is a Rugby players creed. Commit Thyself. First On field. Then To An Asylum....
BUT...if you really want to know what it means to be a Rugby player, then I can only cite this player's story.
And although I hate the fact that he is an All Black (NZ national team...not that important really...!)...the respect and awe Rugby fans feel for this man...and the pain other men feel in sympathy.....oh man......
Wayne 'Buck' Shelford is a former All Black captain ('87-'90) credited with 'refining' the traditional 'Ka Mate' haka the ABs' perform before the start of their matches.
Shelford was a good player and an excellent captain. He led by example...and oh God. What. An. Example.
...and this good people....is INTESTINAL FORTITUDE......
It was during only his second test for the All Blacks that he suffered a ripped scrotum after being rucked by a French player, which left one testicle hanging free.
He also lost four teeth during the ruck.
After discovering the injury to his scrotum, he calmly asked the physio to stitch up the tear and returned to the field and played out the rest of the game, which the All Blacks lost.
Well sportsfans...beat that.
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Comment by MelissaA
Fun Facts
Comment by David
The only thing I've seen that comes close to that was a Sydney Swans player who dislocated his knee during a match. (I think it was Darryn Creswell, but don't quote me on that one).
It took him about three slaps (make that vicious hits) to get the kneecap back into place, then he just kept playing as if nothing had happened.
Oh, and a guy in the local league who mistakenly put Penetrine (a high-intensity liquid form of Deep-Heat [for those who don't know what it is]) on his scrotum before the match, thinking it was a bottle of anti-testes-sweat powder.
David ...
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahha!!!
...or a ball black...!
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
Okay...now this is making me cringe!!!!
...reminds me of Mel Gibson's character in 'Lethal Weapon'.....
....Great Balls of Fire!!!!
hugs sugah...
Dusk
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
Comment by David
Funny you'd mention Lethal Weapon. I was thinking the same thing as I wrote the comment.
Why did I write this comment?
There's a small container of Castrol Handy Oil in front of me. And I have to go and oil the bathroom door.
That is not meant to make sense, okay?
David ...
Comment by yoda76
The Tube Blog
Obviously no commitment to your game.
...rucked...? Is that what they call it...?
Seriously, going back on after an injury like this... Well.... all the best to Shelford for Father's Day.
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
... this is so true. Something we could all apply to our lives much more often.
Then again, I'm still cringing about the scrotum thing ... and I don't even have one ...
... thankfully.
Cara. xx
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
That's tough. That's very very very very very tough!
HAHAHAHAHAHA. I love this. You make me feel less of a spaz. While in Thailand I came off my scooter and had some nice gravel rash going on (cos I'm safety girl and was wearing 100% safety approved shorts, t-shirt and thongs). People usually feel bad for me.....until i tell them that my scooter wasn't actually moving at the time. Now I have someone else that has done it!!!!
Oh god, i'm still wincing about Shelfords injury!
Kylie
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
MelRobertDavid.......that's why I thought of Lethal Weapon.
No...not because of that lethal weapon you hold in your hand everyday.
Your pen...is of course mightier than the sword.
No comment. No cents.
much warmth sugah
Dusk
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
Shelford has 3 children.
...perhaps born prior to the 'incident'?
And...I think it rhymes with "rucked"...that's how he would have called it!
Always good to see you Yoda.
much warmth
Dusk
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
The opposing team...France...are notorious for their squirrel like tactics.
Scrounging for nuts.
...he he....
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
Yeah well...I think this is an injury females can sympathise with if not empathise....after all...women get their "hoo ha's" (remember that???) ripped all the time.
Giving birth.
You definitely have to put your brain and body on the line for that.
No going back.
big hugs Cara...
Dusk
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
Yeah well...I gotta tell ya...I was feeling fly that day... all dressed up in my black leathers...my (then) new Arai helmet...thinking how I was going to look so cool cruising down the Great Ocean Rd (living in Vic at that time)...and I went nowhere fast.
In broad daylight, in my driveway.
My then boyfriend and 2 friends collapsed too. In fits of freakin' laughter!!! Although they were collapsing and laughing while getting the bike off me.
So it counts as an injury. To my pride!!
I think the neighbours saw it too...
....hahahahahahahahahahahahah ahahahaha!!!
Good to see you KW!
much warmth hon...
Dusk
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
giggle snort big giggle
Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
lm((e)ars)o ^^
I have such stories to swap when we meet for that Chai Latte about them all ..except Thugby.. I had girly gils.
Luckily for me... woudl hate to have to rush child to surgery with scrotum fallout..OMG!
Tell me, (while we're talking prvately here) ... This Intestinal Fortitude? ..can these "guys" be ..uh... you know..sensitive in the ...you know.. bedroom department? Or would you be better at the gorilla cage in the zoo runout? *lol*
Thanks for the smile, I needed one
Lilla ...
Comment by Ash
Flashes of memories
Comment by Miswanderlust
Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy
Hey. It's dangerous to get between a woman and something she really really has to have....that's now half price.
Last Christmas my son and I were at an electronics shop looking at iPods. There was a woman behind me who was so close to me that she was breathing on me (not to mention her breasts were touching my back). Well I am a woman who needs a comfort bubble around her and this woman was in my bubble. I told her sweetly that I would be finished in a minute and that I had just arrived at the display. Well when she did not move, I elbowed her and said "Step back Bitch" to where my son grabbed my elbow and said, "enough shopping today Ms. Scrooge" and we left. I don't think I have ever acted in that manner before (my son said he was surprised). But that bitch deserved it...I was bound and determined to get my iPod.
I am sure you are totally disappointed with my lack of patience and humanity.... oh well. This post is simply Divine.
Mis Needs Some Manners