injuryupdate
03-11-2004, 07:17 PM
Just got back from New Zealand and have half read the book I purchased there called "Doc Mayhew: Rugby's Medicine Man". It isn't on Amazon.com but can be bought at:
http://www.virginbooks.com/go/Books_454084.html
Any book written by an ex-team doctor is going to have some interesting info, and I don't think this book is any exception (so I am glad I bought it). However most of the controversial stuff relates to team selections, bagging the management for sacking people etc. Mayhew himself details how everyone in the support staff was sacked after the 2003 World Cup semi-final loss but "he had decided to step down but didn't tell anyone".
One of his most interesting gripes is that he thought that Tana Umaga should have been selected in the World Cup semis (meaning that Mayhew had obviously pronounced him fit and was distancing himself from the non-selection). However, the ex-coaches and administrators and even players are going to HATE to read this opinion (except for maybe Tana himself) as football players and coaches hate doctors who voice an opinion on team selections. It is part of football (and rugby) religion that the doctor just says who is fit to play and then the coach picks the team.
Another is the apparent naivety about players and coaches and support staff getting the sack. You would think that with over a decade of experience that the Doc would not lose too much sleep over the constant sackings in professional sport. It is not as if the All Blacks are sacking everyone yet other teams are stable. Basically turnover goes hand in hand with finishing anywhere else but no. 1. People who are new to professional sport don't understand this quickly, but you would think an old campaigner would have worked it out without thinking that he could run the management any better.
I would rate this as being an inferior book to the two written by the team doctors of LA Raiders and Seattle Seahawks that are reviewed on this website. The NFL books (particularly the Raiders one) tip the bucket on medical management and give a lot more insight into management than the Mayhew one does (from what I have read so far). I am waiting to see whether he discusses local anaesthetic use or concussion compulsory stand down periods (or other stupid rugby union medical laws) but I don't think it will happen. It seems like the medical stuff is pretty tame, and the interesting stuff is the frustrated coach and administrator coming out in him.
http://www.virginbooks.com/go/Books_454084.html
Any book written by an ex-team doctor is going to have some interesting info, and I don't think this book is any exception (so I am glad I bought it). However most of the controversial stuff relates to team selections, bagging the management for sacking people etc. Mayhew himself details how everyone in the support staff was sacked after the 2003 World Cup semi-final loss but "he had decided to step down but didn't tell anyone".
One of his most interesting gripes is that he thought that Tana Umaga should have been selected in the World Cup semis (meaning that Mayhew had obviously pronounced him fit and was distancing himself from the non-selection). However, the ex-coaches and administrators and even players are going to HATE to read this opinion (except for maybe Tana himself) as football players and coaches hate doctors who voice an opinion on team selections. It is part of football (and rugby) religion that the doctor just says who is fit to play and then the coach picks the team.
Another is the apparent naivety about players and coaches and support staff getting the sack. You would think that with over a decade of experience that the Doc would not lose too much sleep over the constant sackings in professional sport. It is not as if the All Blacks are sacking everyone yet other teams are stable. Basically turnover goes hand in hand with finishing anywhere else but no. 1. People who are new to professional sport don't understand this quickly, but you would think an old campaigner would have worked it out without thinking that he could run the management any better.
I would rate this as being an inferior book to the two written by the team doctors of LA Raiders and Seattle Seahawks that are reviewed on this website. The NFL books (particularly the Raiders one) tip the bucket on medical management and give a lot more insight into management than the Mayhew one does (from what I have read so far). I am waiting to see whether he discusses local anaesthetic use or concussion compulsory stand down periods (or other stupid rugby union medical laws) but I don't think it will happen. It seems like the medical stuff is pretty tame, and the interesting stuff is the frustrated coach and administrator coming out in him.