Alex McKinnon (born 5 February 1992) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer whose career was cut short by a

spinal injury A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. Symptoms may include loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in the parts of the body served by the spinal cor ...

during a 2014

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

Premiership match against Melbourne. A Country New South Wales representative , McKinnon also played and . He started his career with the St. George Illawarra Dragons before moving to the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

in 2012.

Early life

Born in the Hunter Valley region of

Aberdeen, New South Wales Aberdeen is a small town in the upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, in Upper Hunter Shire. It is 12 kilometres north of Muswellbrook on the New England Highway. History In 1828 Thomas Potter McQueen was granted 10,000 acres, and ...

on 5 February 1992 to parents Scott and Kate McKinnon, he moved to

St Gregory's College, Campbelltown , motto_translation = What you sow, so shall you reap , established = , type = Independent single-sex and co-educational comprehensive and specialist primary and secondary day and boarding school , specialist = Agricultural sch ...

in Grade 7 and played his junior football for the

Aberdeen Tigers Group 21 Rugby League is a local rugby league competition, run under the control of the Country Rugby League. It covers the Upper Hunter area of New South Wales, and has three divisions, first grade, reserves and Under 18s. For sponsorship rea ...

. He then signed with the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

Professional playing career

St. George Illawarra

McKinnon played for the Dragons' Toyota Cup team from 2008 to 2010, playing in 41 games. McKinnon was named on the bench in Round 11 of the

2010 NRL season The 2010 NRL season was the 103rd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the thirteenth run by the National Rugby League. The season commenced on 12 March and ended with the Grand Final, played on 3 Octobe ...

after prop Dan Hunt was ruled out in the warm up, however he didn't get on the field. In Round 14 of the

2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The N ...

he made his NRL debut for the Dragons against the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

. He scored 2 tries on debut. At the end of 2011, McKinnon was named at in the 2011 Toyota Cup Team of the Year. He signed a 3-year contract with the

starting in 2012 to be closer to his family in the Hunter Region and the fact he is originally from the area.

Newcastle Knights

In Round 1 of the

2012 NRL season The 2012 NRL season was the 105th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the first run by the newly formed Australian Rugby League Commission. The main competition, called the 2012 NRL Telstra Premiership due to spon ...

, McKinnon made his debut for the Knights against his former team, the St. George Illawarra Dragons. After playing the first 7 rounds, McKinnon was named at in the inaugural Under 20's

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

match for

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. On 2 October 2012, McKinnon was named at in the

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. The ...

team to face the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Super ...

. In 2013, McKinnon was selected for the

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

team to play the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in the annual

City vs Country Origin City vs Country Origin was an annual Australian rugby league football match that took place in New South Wales between City and Country representative sides. The City side represented the Sydney metropolitan area. While technically it was Sydney ...

match.

Injury

While playing in the

2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Lea ...

round 3 match against Melbourne at AAMI Park, on March 24, McKinnon was injured in a dangerous tackle close to half-time with Storm players

Jordan McLean Jordan McLean (born 8 October 1991) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australia at international level. He has previously played for ...

, Jesse Bromwich and Kenny Bromwich. McKinnon had fractures to his C4 and C5 vertebrae and was admitted to

The Alfred Hospital The Alfred Hospital, also known as The Alfred or Alfred Hospital, is a leading tertiary teaching hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. It is the second oldest hospital in Victoria, and the oldest Melbourne hospital still operating on its original si ...

and placed in a medically induced coma. McLean was given a seven-match suspension for the tackle. McKinnon was left a

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or ...

. He received the maximum insurance pay out of $500,000 and was assured a "job for life" with the NRL. The NRL's Round 19 in 2014 included a fundraising event called "Rise for Alex", with $1 for every fan attending any of the eight games donated to help him pay for his continuous medical bills and rehabilitation. McKinnon began working with the Knights in January 2015 and in October 2015 became a recruitment co-ordinator. In December 2016, McKinnon announced that he would sue the NRL and Melbourne Storm's Jordan McLean for compensation. In March 2017, McKinnon quit his role with the Knights to focus on public speaking. McKinnon returned to his recruitment position in November 2018.

Trophy

Following his injury in 2014, the two NRL clubs that McKinnon had played for in his career, the

and St. George Illawarra Dragons, together instituted the Alex McKinnon Cup for the 2015 NRL Season. The trophy is contested between the two clubs on the first occasion the two sides meet in a season.

Personal life

McKinnon was married to Teigan Power, whom he proposed to two weeks after his injury. They welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Harriet Anne on 7 October 2018. In November 2020, they announced they were expecting twins in May 2021. Audrey Jill and Violet John McKinnon were born on April 26, 2021. In January 2022, McKinnon split with Power and in April 2022 it was officially confirmed by both parties.

References

External links

2014 Newcastle Knights profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinnon, Alex 1992 births Australian rugby league players Newcastle Knights players St. George Illawarra Dragons players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Junior Kangaroos players Rugby league second-rows Rugby league locks Rugby league centres People with tetraplegia Living people