Tackle Games and Head Injuries w/ Professor Patria Hume from the Auckland University of Technology: 28 May, 2025

A 19-year old from Palmerston North recently died after suffering a head injury while playing a private "run it straight-style" tackle game.

“Run it Straight” has been introduced as a new combat sport, involving a runner and a tackler running full speed at each other to mirror physical collisions seen in rugby league matches.

The sport was gaining prominence in Australia, with contestants winning cash prizes of up to $20,000 Australian dollars in cash, before making it’s way to Aotearoa quite recently, although West Auckland’s Trusts Arena recently cancelled one of their championships following the death of the teenager. 

Oto spoke to Professor Patria Hume, a Professor in Human Performance at AUT, about run it tackle games and the inevitably of serious injuries or deaths during these high-collision games.