For those of you who do not know what happened to Josh "the Tank" during last years game against Moscrop and why he could not continue playing rugby for the remainder of that season, this is why.
It was a warm Spring day playing at Moscrop. Both teams were raring to go at eachother knowing that this win could catapult their rankings for a better matchup in the playoffs. "The Tank" was prepared for the war, but not for what was about to happen in the ensuing battle.
It was the beginning of the second half and the stage had already been set for what had already been and certainly would continue to be a gruesome brawl. Good men had been lost during the last couple of days and today was no exception. We had already lost a player that game to injury and little did they know the person least likely to be injured was...
The ball was favored to the Moscrop team and was being brought up by a strong player in their teams ace running straight towards the goal line. In the line of fire were only a few people to stop him, one of them being "the Tank". Knowing the importance of this game he took it upon himself to try and take him down. But the ace was just to strong and plowed him over, but not before getting brought down by the end of his shoes by the fallen "Tank". It was natural for the initial tackle to be unsuccessful because instead of trying to wrap his legs together bringing his opponent down, "the Tank" merely tried to take him down with the right shoulder. This failed because his opponent was top heavy and was getting his force from his upper body. The resulting action caused a sharp pain in the right shoulder of "the Tank" which was later examined to be a separation of the AC joint grade 2 in the right shoulder. The immediate pain staggered "the Tank" and without his fire power the war would soon be over. The game was lost and the McMath Wildcats moved into the second to last place spot in the league only just barely making the playoffs, but just how would they fair without their Richmond All-Star Prop? The playoffs were lost in the second round and the McMath Wildcats would not move on to the final game.
This year "the Tank" is going to play with a chip on his shoulder both in the mental and literal sense because due to the incident last year his clavicle is higher than normal and protrudes slightly, just enough to be seen. Now I can't tell you how this game will end, nor can I say how it will start. All that's known is that "the Tank" isn't the one leaving injured this time.
You have a knack for sports writing. I liked how you wrote it in a military point of view. At times it felt like I was reading a Victoria Cross citation or a Medal of Honor Citation. Well played (golf clap)
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