Rugby IS dangerous

I know it's Rugby League, and Australian Rugby League at that, but I was gobsmacked by the recent story about a rugby league player in Melbourne being banned for life for taking a KNIFE onto the field during a match in Victoria.

After a rough tackle which sparked a brawl in a match between Chaffey Titans and Mildura Tigers, a certain Kava Lumanuvao retrieved a knife from his car before returning to the field.

Fortunately he was disarmed by his coach and Titans teammates and nobody was injured but I can't help but think that by getting banned from the game for life he got away lightly.

Blimey

News from across the great divide where Castleford Tigers coach Terry Matterson has recently provided incontrovertible proof that Australian Rugby League types are seriously hard bastards.

Matterson, it seems, contrived to have a finger ripped off in a freak accident at a training camp in the south of France, catching his wedding ring in a steel fence while jumping over it to retrieve a ball...And it wasn't until after he had retrieved the ball that he realised what had happened.

"One minute I was climbing a fence looking for a ball, then the next I was looking for my finger, " Matterson is reported to have commented afterwards, adding in a somewhat understated fashion:

"It's not ideal."