Paul Curtis, Josh Sinn & The Breakdown Of Debating Moral Issues | THE VOLCANZO

In his work After Vitrue, the Scottish-American philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre lamented the fact that the modern society has lost the ability to even just have a debate about moral issues. We don't calmly weigh up opposing views and see whose right, but rather we scream at each other and even misrepresent our opponents. MacIntyre's observation came to mind, when reading the reaction to the AFL Tribunal upholding the three week suspension of Paul Curtis for a dangerous tackle.

The dangerous tackle that lead Curtis to be banned for three weeks

This piece is not on the suspended Kangaroo as a matter of fact I won't mention him by name for the rest of this piece. What I want to do instead is take this conversation down a different path. Firstly, the person on the receiving end of the debated dangerous tackle was Josh Sinn. A little bit of background on Sinn. He was born January 7th 2003 and attended Xavier College. He was taken with the 12th pick in 2021 National Draft. Sinn debuted in Round 2, 2022 against Hawthorn but groin problems meant that was his only AFL game in his debut year. He played just three games in 2023, a hamstring surgery ending his season early. A broken collarbone last year looked to cut his year short again by strong hit-outs in the SANFL saw him return and be impactful for Port's Semi-Final win over Hawthorn.

In the last week, the paragraph above is the most detailed information about Sinn in any media publication. We've spent the entire week debating the tackle but completely lost the fact that a talented, young player is once again sitting on the sidelines. There has been no talk in media about how this may have long-term impact on his health or even the short-term impact on how his absence will effect the Power's on-field performance. Google his name and all you get is information on the tribunal case and what people thinking about that. Which brings me nicely along to the media.

The then newly drafted Josh Sinn in 2021

Every time one of these incidents happen, it seems that not only the concussed player but also the potentially suspended players gets put aside. The talking heads with their hot takes become the story. This should never happen. Never should someone's opinion be a more important story than the concussed player. Not the former player who doesn't think it should be suspended, not what anonymous social media accounts have to say and certainly not yours truly. The health of the player should trump everything else.

Finally, the breakdown of debating morals. Concussion and CTE, should not be seen as a sporting issue but rather as a moral one. Is it morally OK for an organisation which makes billions in broadcast rights alone, that doesn't pay a cent in taxes and has usurped the sport so much that the term 'AFL' is now used as a place holder for the sport's actual name, to have that position as a result of an army of the brain wounded. There is no way when you look at it that way where you can to say that an action that causes concussion should go unpunished. To say otherwise, is to be ignorant to what we have learned over the last 20 years from the likes of Chris Nowinski and Alan Pearce.

Chris Nowinski has been the leading voice in the cause to end CTE

There are more nuisances to individual cases. The flawed MRO/Tribunal system, how long this process takes, three weeks or none for cases with concussion, all worthy to debate, and points I can agree on. However, what I'm doing here is asking to change the approach we bring to this whole debate. We can't be screaming at each other, we can't like Luke Parker label our opponents as saying something they don't. If anyone else suggests the sport will become non-contact, I will throw them out a window. No one has suggested this, stop saying that! We need to treat people we need to disagree with a bit more respect and we need to discuss the concussion crisis as a question of morals.