Former NRL star George Burgess, 33, takes up violent new sport slammed by experts
Rugby league star George Burgess is taking up a new Aussie sport known as 'run it straight' - dubbed the 'dumbest game ever'.
The former Wigan Warriors prop, 33, will compete for AUS$20,000 at the RUNIT Championship League in Melbourne this week, The Sun reports.
Burgess, who originally hails from West Yorkshire in England, retired from rugby for a second time last year.
The 33-year-old spent the majority of his career in Australia playing for South Sydney.
'Run it straight' is a simple sport involving two competitors, who charge at each other at high speed on a 20-metre-long 'battlefield'.
George Burgess recently made a return to rugby league with the South Eastern Seagulls.
One player holds a rugby ball while the other attempts to tackle the runner, resulting in bone-crunching hits.
RUNIT's rules state that 'victory belongs to the one who dominates the collision'.
The sport has been criticised by health professionals, including leading neuroscientist Dr Alan Pearce.
'I was pretty gobsmacked, speechless actually when I saw this competition idea starting because for me as someone who has seen hundreds of footballers and rugby league players who are now struggling with brain injury and long-term impairment it is really troubling,' Dr Pearce told news.com.au.
You can watch the 'run it straight' challenge in the player above
La Trobe associate professor Alan Pearce has warned against the sport.
'I just cannot understand how they could take the most violent aspect of sport and just turn it into a spectacle where the objective is just to try and knock out or hurt your opponent.
'In a lot of these other sports (such as NRL, AFL and rugby union) you're trying to avoid direct contact whereas this is purely running at each other, it's insanity.'
RUNIT plans to hold an event in New Zealand next month.
The hope is then to expand to the UK, USA, and Saudi Arabia later this year.
Organisers have hit back over claims the sport is dangerous, but did slam the running of unlicensed 'backyard' events.
A RUNIT spokesperson said, via The Daily Mail: 'Yes, a knockout can potentially occur, but this is not the aim of our game.
Souths Sam Burgess with his brothers Tom and George after victory in the South Sydney v St. George-Illawarra NRL Semi Final at ANZ Stadium, Homebush. Picture: Brett Costello
The first ever RUNIT competition takes place this week in Melbourne. Image: RUNIT YouTube
'The aim is to dominate contact - whether you bump someone over or land a good, clean hit.
'We disallow tackles below the waist and above the shoulders. A knockout, like any other combat sport, is a by-product.
'Unlike any other combat sport, however it is not our aim.
'Athletes are screened by a doctor pre and post matches, medics are present, and medical waivers inclusive of drug and blood tests are completed prior to any participation.'
Fans have been left baffled by the new sport as it prepares for a showcase in New Zealand.
Commenting on a viral video of a competitor being KO'd in an unlicensed event, one fan sighed on X: 'Dumbest game ever.'
Another said: 'This just looks super dangerous.'
The RUNIT organiser added in response: 'The video we felt was horrendous and backyard events such as that one was very disappointing to see.'
- This article first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission
Originally published as 'Dumbest game ever': Former NRL star, 33, takes up violent new sport slammed by experts
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The most important thing for Murdoch-Masila is just to get them talking and to feel a kind of love that did not seem to reach him in his younger days. Murdoch-Masila does not blame anyone for that, and he was not without support. Tigers prop Keith Galloway, who Murdoch-Masila describes as "a Tongan in a white man's body", was a particularly strong mentor for him. But when he came through, it was a different time and there were not as many experienced Pasifika leaders in the game — in 2010, there were only seven Pasifika players over 30 in the entire league — so that connection between the old and the young was harder to find. There were fewer players like Murdoch-Masila, who have been through so much across the peaks and valleys and know how to share what they have found on the journey while speaking to the experience of being a young Pasifika player and the challenges that come with it. 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Some of the older ones, like Moses Suli and Christian Tuipulotu, know they can turn to Murdoch-Masila as well. And it is more than the grateful sessions. Murdoch-Masila organises poker nights, golf days and fishing trips, and if the boys are out bending the elbow, Murdoch-Masila gets them to ring him for a lift instead of calling an Uber. He will do anything to get them together, to get them talking, sharing, feeling, because he knows it can make the difference. "Polynesian boys can bottle up things. They don't talk about their feelings, some of them don't talk to anyone. I always try and get in their heads because they overthink things," Murdoch-Masila said. "I try to let them know things are going to be alright. The world isn't against you. If the coach gets mad, he's not against you [and instead] it comes from a good place. "I don't know how to explain it, but I know when they're struggling and I just try and get them to speak about it. "I enjoy seeing the boys progress and knowing I've had a hand in that makes me pretty proud." Murdoch-Masila decided a while ago that this would be his last year as a player in big-time footy. A lisfranc injury late last season could have been the end of his career, but he worked hard to come back and get into playing shape so he could retire on his own terms and go out playing this game that he has grown to love so much again. He has been running around in reserve grade and enjoyed it, but he is ready for the next stage of his life. He wants to stay in the mentoring space, but beyond that he is keeping his options open. "I've come to terms with this being my last year," Murdoch-Masila. "I have a few options. There are some local footy clubs who have made contact and I've had some conversations with the Dragons, seeing what we can do about staying onboard as staff. "Nothing's solid yet but hopefully things can come good. "The young boys keep me going. They're flying high, so that keeps my energy up. It brings me into training with a smile on my face." That could have been the end of the story and it would have been a fitting one. But now Murdoch-Masila, whose career was born in legend and who has lived one of this game's most inspiring lives, has been called up one last time. He will be the last player from that 2010 semifinal to appear in an NRL game and that is a legacy worth having as a player, but his greater contribution to the sport, even accounting for all his other accomplishments, will come as a person because Murdoch-Masila has been the change he wanted to see. The Dragons will be up against it on Thursday. South Sydney, which endured a brutal injury toll of its own, is starting to welcome back some of its biggest names including fearsome prop Keaon Koloamatangi. But the Red V needs look no further than Murdoch-Masila for inspiration. He never got to give himself the advice he needed as a young man, but it turned out he followed it anyway. He has kept going through it all and it has brought him here with one last chance to play alongside the young men for whom he has already done so much. If he can get in another match after Thursday it will bring him to 250 first-class appearances. However, Murdoch-Masila did not need one more NRL game to feel the gratitude he tries so hard to draw out of others. But you can bet he is feeling it now, that he will feel it when he hits the turf at Stadium Australia, and you can be sure he will bring it up the next time when the boys sit down and start sharing a bit about what is inside — it is what gave the sessions their name after all. "I'm just grateful," Murdoch-Masila said. "I'm so grateful for the career I've had."
News.com.au
17 minutes ago
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‘It's frustrating, but it's more fire in my belly': Campbell Graham vows to thrive in 2026 as bulging disc ends his season
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