Latest news with #RunItChampionshipLeague
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Warriors distance themselves from 'run it straight'
RUNIT Auckland. Trusts Stadium. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / Photosport The rugby league community is ensuring they distance themselves from the controversial new collision trend known as 'run it straight.' Calls are growing louder to ban the game in the wake of a teenager's death in Palmerston North. Ryan Satterthwaite, 19, died after suffering a catastrophic head injury while playing a version of the game. Though several copycat leagues have appeared, the pre-eminent and most popular is the RunIt Championship League. Current Warriors halfback Chanel Harris-Tavita has appeared in promotions for RunIt, advertised as a 'special guest' for the first night of trials in Auckland. When RNZ contacted the club for comment, a spokesman insisted the Warriors had nothing to do with the organisation. Coach Andrew Webster said he is not across the new collision craze. "I'm not a social media man so I don't know too much about it." Asked whether it could affect perceptions of the NRL, Webster said he didn't want to make an uneducated statement. "I honestly don't know enough about it, any contact sport should be done in a safe environment, but I'm focused on our game." Former Warrior and current club mentor Manu Vatuvei spoke at the second night of trials. "I know a lot of people hate it, and a lot of people love it. I'm one of those people who love it," he said at the time. Other notable athletes to have previously endorsed RunIt include current UFC light heavyweights Carlos Ulberg and Navajo Stirling. Former All Black Saveatama Eroni Clarke, the Pasifika engagement manager for NZ Rugby told Checkpoint Satterthwaite's death was a tragedy. Regulations that focus on health and safety need to be put in place, Clarke said. His message to young people is: "Don't do it, there's too much risk involved, we've seen now the extreme of it and the high risk that it brings - head trauma and other things that it brings as well." Saveatama Eroni Clarke. Photo: Supplied "I think about my own children and I think about Caleb and I'm thinking about his brothers and I'm thinking well certainly if there is a contact sport that I want them to play it's rugby." Young people who want to play a contact sport should join rugby, where there is good coaching and safety is in mind, he said. His message to high profile players is: "We can't be seen to support something like this."
1News
21-05-2025
- Sport
- 1News
New Run It competition makes NZ debut, fears over brain injury risk
The controversial new sport Run It made its New Zealand debut in west Auckland last night, but some are concerned about the risk of brain injuries. The Run It Championship League took inspiration from the physical collisions seen during rugby league or union games as two participants – a runner and tackler – stand at each end of a 20m by 4m field and run toward each other at speed. Event organiser Billy Coffey said the goal was to "either run over your defender or take out the ball runner". "There's nowhere to hide, it's you one-on-one. And usually as a player you have 13 or 15 other people on the field, not anymore," he said. It had held several events in Australia offering thousands of dollars in prize money to the winners, and has gained social media attention and endorsements from former players. Former NRL player George Burgess told 1News when he stepped away from rugby, he felt like he had lost something. "With Run It, it gives retired athletes like me [a way] to tap in to that thing you love about sport," he said. However, Auckland University neuroscientist Helen Murray said the likelihood of injury was "much higher" in a sport where the intent was to collide. "When you have these sorts of collisions, even if your head isn't directly involved, we have what you call a head acceleration event. "So the brain is bouncing around in your skull [and] the risk of that causing damage, concussion or worse is even higher," she said. Coffey said there were strict measures in place to keep people safe. "Everyone signs a waiver, everyone gets a medical check, there's doctors on site and you know that risk. But it's also the daring nature of it." He said he doesn't want to see competitors knocked out. "It's really brought the community together everywhere we go, and that's why we do it."
