League: Hard-man goes in for his last hit

For a boy from working-class Glen Eden, Jarrod McCracken has done all right for himself.

The former league star owns a fair chunk of Townsville, with a property portfolio worth A$20 million ($21.9 million) and a project to turn A$20 million into A$30 million by building and selling 46 resort units.

Age 34, he is married with two children.

He has a large game-fishing boat called Crackers and many other "toys", from motorbikes to four-wheel-drives.

But McCracken has been in the New South Wales Supreme Court this week arguing his case against the Melbourne Storm and its former players Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai, who ended his career with a spear tackle in May 2000.

He and Kearney were Kiwis team-mates - in 1993 McCracken was part of a team in which Kearney was captain and in 1999 the roles were reversed.

But they haven't spoken since that day when McCracken's neck and spine were damaged, the last game he played.

McCracken's net salary at the time, after paying A$165,000 in tax, was A$195,651. He is suing for A$750,000 he said was lost earnings potential in Australia and England.

If he wins - which many expect because of the record established by Australian courts in similar cases - the payment will come from insurers rather than the club or the players.

McCracken's lawyer, Bernard Gross, QC, is something of a celebrity and a trail-blazing winner in sports law.

He took on the Australian Rugby League over its draft system for Terry Hill, and represented McCracken, Dean Pay and Jason Smith when they went to court to break Super League contracts they said Canterbury forced on them.

Many Australian league players have sued others - Manly's Ian Roberts versus Gary Jack for an illegal tackle that broke his jaw, Adam Ritson versus John Lomax for a high tackle that resulted in brain damage. Most have been settled out of court.

McCracken's case had seemed to be following the same path, and its re-appearance in the courts took most by surprise.

Many in league regard the facts of this case as somewhat ironic - McCracken made his name as a hard-man, doing his own fair share of illegal enforcement.

In the last of his 22 tests for the Kiwis in 1999, McCracken was captain when he hit his then Eels team-mate Jason Smith off the ball, five minutes from the end of the game, to concede a penalty that gave the last points in a 20-14 win to the Kangaroos.

In his second international, the 1991 test in Sydney, he and Aussie five-eighth Peter Jackson were ordered from the field after a brawl.

He has a long history before the NRL judiciary. In early 2000, when he was captain of the new Wests Tigers merger club, he was charged with elbowing Shane Webcke and delivering a knee in the tackle during a violent game against the Broncos.

Both counts were dismissed, to the surprise of many. McCracken thanked the three-man panel for recognising that league "is a tough, hard game".

That was in March. In May, he was walked off the Olympic Park turf with his arms around two trainers after being propelled into the ground head-first by Kearney and then Bai, who came in as second tackler.

The impact caused neck and spinal problems that meant he could not risk playing again, and the abrupt end of his career caused him depression for some time.

McCracken is the son of 1960s Kiwi wing Ken and always saw the earnings chance he had in league.

A star at the Glenora Bears, he went to Australia in 1989 to trial for North Sydney and played for the Junior Kiwis in Papua New Guinea.

He was playing in Coffs Harbour as he wrangled with the New Zealand Rugby League for a release in 1991, and from there was signed by Bulldogs mentor Peter Moore, who threatened the NZRL with court action if it tried to stop him.

One of McCracken's first experiences at Canterbury was to watch Terry Lamb, Steve Folkes and others fire-walking.

He was quoted as saying he thought that if they could do that, "we can do anything".

In 1993 and '94 they were minor premiers and in '95 they won the competition.

He, Pay and Smith were regarded as mercenaries when they went to the Eels, making more than the inflated salaries they received in Super League. McCracken was joint captain with Pay in 1997/98 and, after two years out of the representative scene, came back into the Kiwis to play that year and the next.

During the late 90s he was on a A$500,000 contract but for tax reasons received a wage of less than A$50,000 a year from the club.

The rest went to pay for commercial, industrial and residential properties, plus fringe benefits tax.

McCracken has been blunt in his assertion that the spear tackle was deliberate and intended to hurt him.

When it was suggested that one of the players demonstrated remorse by bending over him and touching his arm after it was clear he was hurt in the tackle, McCracken conceded he could not remember much immediately afterwards.

"There's been times when I've been on the ground and numerous people on the opposing side have been degrading towards me.

"I don't think once in my entire career has anyone said, 'I'm sorry'.

"The majority want me hurt. It's the nature of the game - it's a contact sport. If I am hurt on the ground, maybe they see that they have achieved their goal."

McCracken said he was paid well to be aggressive on the field and his mission was to physically dominate his opponents. In 1998, when an Adelaide player struck him without the ball, he hit back.

"He intentionally struck me so I intentionally struck him back."

The subsequent three-match suspension was worth it to maintain his reputation, he said.

But he drew the line at spear tackles such as the one involving Kearney and Bai.

"A spear tackle, that is the worst thing in the game," he said. "Players know what they are doing and, if it's going to happen, to my mind that is not a mistake."

Kearney, who was suspended for eight weeks by the NRL judiciary after the tackle, and Bai, who was banned for one week, are now playing at Hull and Leeds respectively and have given evidence by video link from England.

Both were adamant they had not intended to inflict serious harm.

Under cross examination by Gross, Kearney rejected suggestions he had made the tackle with the intention of "driving the player powerfully and hard into the ground".

"But you didn't lift him up to let him down softly, did you?" Gross asked. "No," replied Kearney.

Each told the court he did not know that the other had been involved or assisted in the tackle.

Former player and premiership-winning coach Warren Ryan, who is a league commentator on an ABC radio show on which Gross speaks on sports law, was called by Gross as an expert witness.

He told the court Kearney clearly lifted McCracken in the tackle by grabbing hold of one leg.

Kearney and Bai had other options to stop him, he said.

"I believe there was ample time for either player to pull out of the spear tackle they were making."

What the case is about

* Jarrod McCracken (right) is suing the Melbourne Storm and players Stephen Kearney (left)and Marcus Bai for A$750,000.
* He claims the two players ended his career in 2000 with a spear tackle that caused spine and neck injuries.
* McCracken says the tackle was "intentional" and "done with intent to cause injury".
* McCracken and Kearney, former Kiwis team-mates, have not spoken since the day of the tackle.