Alex McKinnon is three years down the track from the night that changed his life. He gets married in three weeks. Darius Boyd will be his best man. Dane Gagai will be in the bridal party. His old coach, Wayne Bennett, will be there. It will be a great day.
McKinnon says the anger has gone and he wants to move on. He even wants to have a coffee with Cameron Smith, the player who appeared to ignore his plight and concentrated on talking to the referee while McKinnon lay on the turf in obvious distress.
Smith's actions on that night have been debated, defended and slammed, but they are still difficult to fathom for many close to McKinnon. Smith's part in the incident was highlighted in a 60 Minutes story. McKinnon's anger was intense and the makers of the program were heavily criticised, with claims it was edited selectively and that Smith should have been given the right of reply.
Smith became the story, and his supporters leapt to his defence. But sadly, after all is said and done, McKinnon is still unable to do what he loves – play football. Smith is still going on about the media stitch-up. He told colleague Andrew Webster last week: "I don't call it the 'Alex McKinnon stuff', it's the '60 Minutes stuff'. That was pretty ordinary. More so for my family I was upset. My family had to sit through that and answer questions about it. It was a hatchet job if there was one. It was a stitch-up on myself. In fairness to Alex, I think they stitched him up, too. He was in a really difficult situation. I still haven't seen the story, but by all reports it was a fantastic piece until they brought me into it. I don't know why they went down the line that they did."
They went down that path because in the days after the incident, everyone was talking about Smith's reaction. The week it happened, this column raised it and offered Cam the opportunity to speak before we went to print. I didn't get an answer and have never had an answer regarding his actions.
Not giving Smith a right of reply is something 60 minutes was bagged for. They should have. It's my understanding that McKinnon didn't want a Smith interview as part of his TV story.
For this week's column, I again contacted the Storm to speak to Smith about his comments to Webster and why he re-raised it. Storm head of communications Sarah Kalaja sent the following email: "I have spoken with Cameron and he has declined the request for interview. To your point that [Smith] brought up [the McKinnon incident] in the story, I would like to clarify the following:
"The question was: 'His career hasn't always been smooth sailing – there have been some challenging/tough moments along the way.'
"Cameron responded with the 2010 salary cap incident, 2008 GF suspension and the 60 Minutes issue. He made it very clear in his response, as per the printed quotes, he refers toit as the 60 Minutes issue, not AlexMcKinnon."
Smith can say what he wants, but as an experienced media performer he knew raising the McKinnon incident would bring a response. The Nine Network took the generous step of apologising. Smith sat next to Paul Vautin on The Footy Show as Vautin dished out a lengthy apology. And Cam accepted it.
Privately, high-level executives from Nine flew to Melbourne and apologised to Smith and his family face-to-face. This was because Smith was not speaking to Nine on their football coverage. He is considered important, but it's hard to imagine one person not tuning into the coverage because Smith wasn't speaking.
When you get that level of apology, you think you move on. Not Smith. He said what he said to Webster.
He also said that McKinnon was stitched up by the story. I spoke to McKinnon this week.
Olive branch: Alex McKinnon would like to have a coffee with Cameron Smith. Photo: NRL Photos
"I saw the story before it went to air and I was happy with it," he said. "I was very angry at the time because of what happened to me and now I've let that go. I may do the story differently now, but that was how I felt at the time. I have moved on. I don't want to live with that anger in me."
McKinnon has talked with Smith on the phone, but would like more. "I'd like to have a coffee with him and just see where the conversation goes, and if there is a good outcome, that would be good. If not, it would be good to have a conversation with someone who has done as much as he has as a footballer."
Smith has never watched the 60 Minutes story and may never read this column. But if he does, maybe he will come to the conclusion that when it comes to McKinnon perspective is something he is lacking. There was one person whose life changed forever that night, and it was not his.
Why Peters isn't only guilty party at Manly
Manly's Trent Barrett is one of the rising stars of the coaching ranks, but he is risking his reputation if his head of high performance, Dan Ferris, is allowed to continue to operate in the same manner at his club.
In fact, in light of revelations Sea Eagles assistant coach Willie Peters had complained of being bullied before last week's punch-up in The Rocks, it's hard to imagine Ferris won't be required to attend a course to educate him on behaviour in the workplace. But then, rugby league is different to the real world.
You see, Barrett knew about the treatment Peters was copping. And he was there at a meeting mid-year where Peters raised his concerns. At that meeting, Peters made it clear he was fed up with the way he was being treated by some at the club – but it was an informal meeting and no official complaint was made. And nothing much changed. Barrett was also there when Peters lost his cool in an incident that cost his job. As a former halfback, Willie Peters would be lucky to weigh in at 75 kilograms. You can only imagine the anger that built up inside him before lashing out at a man whose business is strength.
Mistreated: Willie Peters back in his playing days for the Dragons. Photo: Steve Cuff
But after a day which started at a lunch at The Century at The Star and ended at The Orient Hotel at The Rocks, Peters' fuse was lit when conversation among the coaching staff turned to his toxic relationship with Ferris. According to Sea Eagles sources, the pair were being urged to sort out their differences in a civil way. Ferris said that would never happen and questioned Peters' ability. Peters gave him a gobful – he is believed to have told him to "get f--ked" - before the argument was taken outside.
Peters has snapped once before at Ferris. According to players, he kicked a football at Ferris when he was undermining him at training. What got under Peters' skin? The kind of behaviour you'd expect from someone who might want to be the workplace joker, but who can also come across as a pest.
Ferris superimposed Peters' head on photos of little people and stuck copies around the organisation. He would "trash" his desk. He would leave heaters on in Peters office in summer and shut the door. He would hide his wallet and keys so at the end of the day he couldn't go home. But it was more the jibes in front of players, making fun of his ability and ruining drills, that hurt Peters.
Some may say Peters is too sensitive. The worst knock I've heard on him is he is too nice a guy. And there is no doubt he did the wrong thing at The Orient. But you can feel his anger. Ferris certainly felt his fist, and Peters may be fortunate that the matter has ended there.
Ferris is loved by the players. Peters was his fall guy. And that brings me back to Barrett – a good parent and decent man, who has been a great mate of Peters since their playing days where they teamed up in the halves for the Dragons. It's hard to imagine any of this sits well with him.
Cash axe to fall
Staff at NRL headquarters are bracing themselves for a new round of staff and budget cuts.
With so much of the game's revenue going to the clubs from next year – an average of $13 million per club per year – some of the duties performed by NRL staff will shift to the clubs.
Clubs, for instance, will take on their own membership drives rather than relying on head office to sell season tickets to club games.
In fact, it is estimated that the wages bill will be cut by as much as $15 million a year. CEO Todd Greenberg has already slashed the cost of running his senior management team. Shane Richardson (strategy), Michael Brown (commercial), Suzanne Young (chief operating officer) and Peter Brown (chief financial officer) have all left on Greenberg's watch to be replaced internally with lower-cost options.
The restructure will shift the focus to the NRL's digital operations, which will develop new websites for the NRL and 16 clubs from next year.
Channel snub
It seems those doing the Dally M invitations have not heard of the Nine Network. The event, in grand final week, is broadcast by Fox Sports, and clearly they see Nine as a threat. They failed to invite Footy Show stars Fatty Vautin and Beau Ryan, and the "face" of the Nine coverage, James Bracey. Other Nine stars were only invited through their other employers, Darryl Brohman and Erin Molan through 2GB and Emma Freedman through Triple M.
The Nine Network had to bring the matter up with the NRL and it's understood they have now intervened and made up for the errors. The galling thing is that the Dally M organisers were hitting Nine up for other on-air talent who star in their programs.
Money talks
The Sharks were going to hold a media conference with CEO Lyall Gorman and Shane Flanagan on Tuesday to address Todd Greenberg's criticism of the preliminary final refereeing controversy, but decided against the idea. Flanagan didn't lose his sense of humour. The club was fined extra for an interview he did with their media man, Rob Willis. "That's OK," he said. "That will be coming out of Rob's pocket. He did the interview and sent it out."
Shark tears
Say what you like about Paul Gallen, but don't doubt the effort he puts in for his team. Three days after the Sharks' loss to the Cowboys he was really hurting. "I'm heartbroken," he said. "I wasn't ready for the season to end so soon. I'm genuinely at a loss."
Danny Weidler is a Channel Nine news reporter.