Journalist and anti-concussion activist Peter FitzSimons responded to a colleague who attacked him with a stunning public spray last week by saying he is surprised the column was published by the newspaper they both work for.
FitzSimons Sydney Morning Herald His colleague Andrew Webster lashed out at his co-worker in a no-holds-barred article last Friday.
Webster said FitzSimons wrote a ‘condescending’ and ‘personal’ column reacting to his story warning the NRL not to overreact to calls to ban kickoffs after Dragons star Moses Suli was knocked out in the Anzac Day clash against the Sydney Roosters.
“It’s too much,” Webster wrote. “Rugby league people are getting tired of being positioned as out-of-touch bogans who don’t care about their own.”
FitzSimons (pictured with wife Lisa Wilkinson) responded to a colleague who attacked him with public spray and also chose some words for the newspaper they both work for.
Journalist Andrew Webster (pictured) called colleague FitzSimons “condescending” and told him to stop treating NRL fans like “out of touch bogans”.
On Thursday, FitzSimons revealed his deep shock at Webster’s words, and the fact that they were allowed to be published.
“In my 38 years at this beloved newspaper, I don’t remember any criticism of this kind being published from one colleague to another; only occasionally opposing columns in which we have had divergent views on ideas,” the former Wallabies star wrote. .
FitzSimons later explained that he admires Webster as a writer and as a man, insisting that the only difference of opinion he has with him is on the issue of concussion.
The 62-year-old remained adamant on the issue, saying he is against the NRL keeping long kick-offs because “they often lead to men the size of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves running at full speed against three huge men running at full speed”. The other way’.
He added that concussion experts would back him on the issue, explaining that “there is a moral and legal imperative for the NRL to change the rules in exactly the same way that the NFL has done” after the American league drastically altered its rules. kickoffs to make players safer recently.
Fitzsimons believes the NRL cannot be counted on to make changes on its own.
FitzSimons called for Sydney Roosters captain James Tedesco to stand down after suffering a concussion against the Bulldogs this year (pictured)
Webster (pictured) said he felt he “had to fight” the former Wallabies star because of his repeated attacks on the NRL over the issue of head hits.
“In no commercial sports organization in the world, in history, has it been like this,” he wrote.
‘Every step forward comes from legal, medical and public pressure. I’m proud to amplify the opinions of the first two and help inform the opinion of the third.’
In his column, Webster wrote that the NRL should abandon “cosmetic changes” such as calls to ban the kick-off and seriously address tackling technique to prevent incidents like Suli’s from occurring, starting at youth football level.
FitzSimons later responded in his column, quoting “one of the world’s leading concussion advocates,” Dr. Chris Nowinski.
He pointed to changes in rugby and the NFL that had not eroded the structure of those games and said major changes also needed to be made in the NRL.
Newcastle captain Kalyn Ponga (pictured being lifted off the ground after a collision) is another NRL player who has had major problems due to head knocks.
Dragons star Moses Suli was knocked out in the first play of the Anzac Day clash against the Sydney Roosters, and the incident helped spark the feud between the two Sydney Morning Herald columnists.
‘So where do you draw the line for making the game safer? “I will draw the line at brain health, not insist on keeping a small part of the game that is causing harm,” he wrote.
“The game has a legal and moral obligation to fix these things.”
That was enough for Webster, who criticized FitzSimons for how he has framed his ongoing crusade against concussions in sports.
“When colleague Peter FitzSimons writes an article as condescending and personal as the one published online by the Herald on Thursday, well, you have to fight,” he wrote.
‘FitzSimons took issue with my column on Monday about the debate raging in the NRL over the kick-off and how it should be banned to prevent concussions.
‘As his lifelong colleague, I was hurt but not surprised. He does these things to most people who offer him a contrary or slightly different position on concussion.
NRL champion player and coach Paul Green took his own life in 2022 and was later found to be suffering from the devastating effects of CTE.
‘It has been relentless. He lectures players, most recently Roosters captain James Tedesco, about retirement. He has criticized clubs, coaches and commentators.
‘His constant criticism of former Bulldogs captain James Graham, who spoke openly about his own concussion issues in a well-intentioned podcast with The Australian, has become tiresome.
‘It’s too much. Rugby league people are getting tired of being positioned as out-of-touch bogans who don’t care about their own.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted FitzSimons for comment.
James Graham, who admitted to feeling the impacts of numerous concussions during his playing days, has repeatedly clashed with bitter rival FitzSimons.
Earlier this month, FitzSimons also reignited his feud with James Graham after the former football star turned commentator recently called him a “parasite.”
The high-profile pair have been feuding for years – they first clashed in 2019 when the Fairfax scribe questioned the retired prop claiming he was willing to “accept” the risk of blows to the head as an integral part of rugby league professional.
In 2022, Graham accused FitzSimons of ambushing him and parading him at a concussion seminar.
They have repeatedly clashed over concussion in the sport in recent weeks, with Graham furious after FitzSimons called for Roosters captain James Tedesco to retire after being knocked out in a match against the Bulldogs.
FitzSimons wrote that Tedesco had suffered 10 concussions, which he called “brain damage” and criticized the Roosters for saying he was “fine” afterwards.
‘This type of behavior [from FitzSimons] “He’s using our game and the serious concussion problem to stay alive,” Graham said.