Latest news with #NemaniNadolo
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NZ teenager dies after taking part in rugby-inspired craze
A teenager has died in New Zealand after taking part in a rugby-inspired craze that sees participants sprint into each other head-on with no protective gear, police said Tuesday. Fuelled by social media and sometimes playing out in front of large crowds, the "run-it-straight" challenge has swept across New Zealand and Australia. Organised run-it-straight competitions offer thousands of dollars in prize money but the trend has ignited fears of concussion and other serious injuries. A 19-year-old died in New Zealand's North Island after playing the game with friends over the weekend, police said in a statement. "The man suffered a serious head injury when tackled and was taken to hospital by friends," police inspector Ross Grantham said. "Tragically, he passed away in hospital on Monday night. "We would urge anyone thinking about taking part in a game or event like this to consider the significant safety and injury risks." Grantham said the teenager had been taking part in an "impromptu game among friends", rather than a planned event. "The tackle game played by the group of friends was based on a social media-driven trend where participants compete in full-contact collisions without protective gear." - 'Horrendous' - Organised run-it-straight events have drawn interest from ex-professional rugby players. Former Leicester, Montpellier and Fiji winger Nemani Nadolo was a celebrity participant at one event earlier this year. Experts have likened the craze to a combat sport, warning that participants face serious concussion risks. One organised competition based in Australia described it as the "world's fiercest, new collision sport". It involved one runner and one tackler charging into each other from 20 metres (65 feet) apart, the competition said. A run-it-straight event in New Zealand's largest city Auckland was briefly halted last week when a participant started convulsing on the ground, local media reported. Brain injury charity Headway has condemned the competitions. "There's some horrendous and really distressing videos," chief executive Stacey Mowbray told national broadcaster Radio New Zealand. "Going into seizure, having obvious brain injury, that's what we can see." Rugby and other sports are grappling with an emerging body of evidence linking head contact with degenerative brain disease. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is known to cause violent moods, dementia and depression. Injuries from head blows have also been linked to other disorders such as motor neurone disease, early onset dementia, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease. sft/lec/pst
News.com.au
07-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
America discovers violent Aussie sport, divided by sickening ‘Run It Straight' KOs
The sporting world has discovered the new 'Run It Straight' craze and it appears people don't quite know what to make of the violent new sport taking Australia by storm. Run it straight has transformed from a viral social media trend to a full fledged sport in recent months, with 'Run it Straight Official' and 'RUNIT Championship League' turning it into a business and holding competitions in Australia. Last week the RUNIT Championship League held a competition in Melbourne, with $20,000 up for grabs for the winner. Semi Osa was declared the winner of the event at Melbourne Pavilion that drew a solid crowd and racked up millions of views online. Former Rabbitohs forward George Burgess took on ex-Fijian rugby player Nemani Nadolo in an exhibition — Burgess got the win and managed to knock Nadolo over, but it looked like the two footy stars held back ever so slightly and couldn't produce a knockout collision. One disappointed fan wrote on Instagram: 'Check their brake pads. Handbrake was still up on first gear,' while another said 'they played it safe'. Burgess and Nadolo posed for a photo afterwards, with the Fijian saying RUNIT was 'one of the scariest yet most fulfilling things I've done since retiring from the game.' Sport fans around the world including America have discovered RUNIT's big hits, and opinion is divided. Footage of one contestant getting poleaxed and his body going limp from a massive hit has gone viral, racking up 19 million views on Instagram — and it's safe to say not everyone is a fan of Run It Straight. 'Ban this before someone dies,' one person commented. 'How much do these guys get paid to get permanent brain damage,' a second said. A third added: 'This is so stupid! All fun and games until someone gets permanently injured. A fourth said: 'This is the lowest form of IQ for sport. Minimal to no skill. Just hammer as hard as you can. What is next? Who can run into a wall the hardest head first?' Another commented: 'When rugby turns into stupid American games …' RUNIT believe they are onto the next big thing and are confident the sport can one day rival the UFC. Judging by the reaction from American sport fans on social media, it's safe to say Run It Straight might have more of a future as a TV product than pickleball or Dana White's Power Slap. One person wrote: 'Where can I bet on this?' Popular US sports social media account Barstool Sports shared a story about Run It Straight, describing it as 'the sport of the future'. 'Run It Straight has everything you could ever want in a new sport,' Barstool wrote. 'Speed and violence. And there's absolutely zero barrier for entry. 'There are no complex rules that a casual viewer wouldn't understand. There are no little intricacies of the game that wouldn't translate to a television audience.' Bussin' With The Boys posted a clip of a brutal collision, declaring: 'The next great sport is here, Run It Straight.' Many American sport fans likened Run It Straight to the Oklahoma gridiron drill where two players, often a defensive and offensive player, collide after getting a running start. But the Tight Five Rugby accounted posted: 'This new run it straight competition is sickening. People with zero technique running at full tilt, someone is going to get seriously injured soon.' What is Run It Straight? The sport involves four rounds of players charging at each other along 'a 20m x 4m battlefield' grass runway, with each competitor taking turns carrying a rugby league ball. The objective is to either successfully tackle the opponent or run them over in a hard-hitting collision. The contest is ended when a player is knocked out or concussed. If both competitors are still standing and have their wits about them after four rounds, a set of judges decide the winner, with the main criteria they are judging being damage. Co-founders Rennie Molimau and Virgil Tauaa say they have modelled the league off the success of the World Arm Wrestling League and Power Slap and believe it is destined to succeed. After the Melbourne competition, RUNIT will then head to New Zealand on May 25, before going to the United States, Saudi Arabia and England later in the year. Expert slams 'violent' risks of Run It Straight RUNIT states, unlike most 'run-it-straight' challenges, they have a set of strict rules, with medical staff waiting to assess players before and after each hit in a bid to combat head injuries and promote safety. But with damage the end goal it is a difficult proposition to achieve. While on the surface it all might seem like all fun and laughs, leading Australian sports neuroscientist Dr Alan Pearce found it almightily troubling, telling that participants need to understand they are likely shortening their lives every time they 'run it straight'. '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 '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.' It begs the question, why would people want to compete in a sport that puts not only your body on the line but your brain health? Dr Pearce hypothesised it may be down to the growing belief that traditional contact sports have 'gone soft', a notion he believes has been incorrectly peddled for years. 'A lot of these people competing have a footy background and if anything it's worse as they have already likely had several head knocks which add up a lot quicker than people realise,' Dr Pearce said. 'Then there's the idea that (contact) sport is getting soft. But that's incorrect, it is actually getting far harder as the athletes are now bigger, stronger and faster than ever before, just look at the injury lists every week. 'We are seeing at all levels of the game higher injury rates but yet people are still complaining that sports are getting soft because we're trying to crack down on things that are causing damage to our brains and bodies. 'So to them, I'd say you look at the evidence first before making comments around the game getting soft. We're just basically trying to be more responsible in looking after our athletes as they are not just commodities.'
Telegraph
07-03-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Super Rugby slammed amid Fiji fury at players crammed into lorry before match
Former Fiji international Nemani Nadolo has slammed Super Rugby organisers after logistical foul-ups dogged the Fijian Drua on a recent trip to New Zealand to play the Wellington Hurricanes. The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Thursday that the Drua players were forced to jump into a truck hired to transport the team's baggage and equipment after their bus failed to turn up at the airport just before midnight on February 21. The following day, the newspaper reported, the Drua players - but not those of the Hurricanes - were forced to check out of their hotel hours before the kick-off in Napier, which they lost 38-34. 'Bear in mind every Super Rugby side that comes to Fiji will get police escort everywhere they go,' Nadolo, a world-class winger who played 30 times for his country, wrote in a post on X beneath a picture of the Drua players in the baggage truck. 'Yet this is a picture of a Super Rugby side that's sitting at the back of a truck going to their hotel in NZ. 'How is this even happening? Can you imagine if this was an Aussie or a NZ franchise side? Driving in the back of a truck at midnight after showing up to the airport to find out your team bus wasn't there. Please tell me this is a joke?' Bear in mind every Super Rugby side that comes to Fiji will get police escort everywhere they go. Yet this is a picture of a super rugby side that's sitting at the back of a truck going to their hotel in NZ!!!! DVC. #breaksme — nemzy (@nemani_nadolo) March 6, 2025 Fijian-born former Wallabies winger Lote Tuqiri also weighed in, telling Australian Associated Press that the mistreatment of the Drua players was 'unacceptable'. 'You can't expect a team to be treated that way,' Tuqiri said. 'They're not an under-11s or under-12s team ... they're a professional outfit and they should be treated accordingly.' Fijian Drua made the issues known to Super Rugby management, who said they had launched an immediate review. 'Several oversights and breakdowns in communication were identified which unfortunately created additional challenges for the Drua,' chief executive Jack Mesley told the SMH. 'Those issues have now been addressed with the clubs and an external transport provider. While it is disappointing to have these issues arise in our competition, it has given us the opportunity to assess and refine our team travel processes moving forward.' The Drua are unlikely to have any similar issues this weekend as they host the competition-leading Waikato Chiefs in Lautoka on Saturday.
Reuters
07-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Fijian great Nadolo slams treatment of Drua players on NZ trip
March 7 (Reuters) - Former Fiji international Nemani Nadolo has slammed Super Rugby organisers after logistical foul-ups dogged the Fijian Drua on a recent trip to New Zealand to play the Wellington Hurricanes. The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Thursday that the Drua players were forced to jump into a truck hired to transport the team's baggage and equipment after their bus failed to turn up at the airport just before midnight on February 21. The following day, the newspaper reported, the Drua players -- but not those of the Hurricanes -- were forced to check out of their hotel hours before the kickoff of the match in Napier, which they lost 38-34. "Bear in mind every Super Rugby side that comes to Fiji will get police escort everywhere they go," Nadolo, a world-class winger who played 30 times for his country, wrote in a post on X beneath a picture of the Drua players in the baggage truck. "Yet this is a picture of a Super Rugby side that's sitting at the back of a truck going to their hotel in NZ. "How is this even happening? Can you imagine if this was an Aussie or a NZ franchise side? Driving in the back of a truck at midnight after showing up to the airport to find out your team bus wasn't there. Please tell me this a joke?" Fijian-born former Wallabies winger Lote Tuqiri also weighed in, telling Australian Associated Press that the mistreatment of the Drua players was "unacceptable". "You can't expect a team to be treated that way," Tuqiri said. "They're not an under-11s or under-12s team ... they're a professional outfit and they should be treated accordingly." Fijian Drua made the issues known to Super Rugby management, who said they had launched an immediate review. "Several oversights and breakdowns in communication were identified which unfortunately created additional challenges for the Drua," chief executive Jack Mesley told the SMH. "Those issues have now been addressed with the clubs and an external transport provider. While it is disappointing to have these issues arise in our competition, it has given us the opportunity to assess and refine our team travel processes moving forward." The Drua are unlikely to have any similar issues this weekend as they host the competition-leading Waikato Chiefs in Lautoka on Saturday.
Washington Post
07-03-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Ex-internationals condemn Super Rugby travel failures for Fijian Drua
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Ex-internationals Lote Tuqiri and Nemani Nadolo have condemned Super Rugby organizational failures that led to the Fijian Drua squad traveling more than 300 kilometers (about 185 miles) in a luggage truck and having to check out of their hotel early on the day of their second-round match against the Hurricanes.
