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SYDNEY - Former New Zealand rugby league player Jarrod McCracken has been awarded more than A$97,000 ($113,500) after suing an NRL club and two players he claimed cut short his career with a spear tackle.
The former Wests Tigers player and New Zealand captain sued rugby league team Melbourne Storm and its former players Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai over a spear tackle in May 2000.
McCracken, now 36, suffered neck and spinal injuries following the tackle.
NSW Supreme Court Justice Robert Hulme today awarded McCracken A$97,500 in damages, saying the injuries were permanent and happened to someone who "rejoiced in ... his health and fitness".
"They (the injuries) also prevented him from continuing in a career for which he had a passion and which must have involved substantial satisfaction and reward in addition to that of a monetary nature," he said in his judgment.
- AAP
