7th Tackle: Cancer survivor spurs Manly
The cancer survivor who helped inspire Ben Barba and Canterbury on their thrilling run to the 2012 grand final has paid a timely visit to Manly.
The struggling Sea Eagles yesterday received a personal pep-talk from motivational speaker Michael Crossland, who was diagnosed with cancer before his first birthday and was rated a miracle child when he reached his teens.
Crossland has already told his story to an estimated 250,000 people worldwide.
His most successful engagement with rugby league came in 2012, via Canterbury’s association with Camp Quality.
Crossland addressed the team when they were sitting mid-table in May of that season.
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Coincidence or not, they immediately won 15 of their next 16 games to come within 80 minutes of an unlikely premiership.
Ben Barba – who won the Dally M medal in 2012 – even provided a testimonial on Crossland’s website.
“What an inspiration he is! I will never take things for granted!” Barba wrote.
The move from Manly to engage Crossland is a reminder to the team about how hard they’ve worked to be in top eight contention, and how fortunate they are to play football professionally.
After a superb mid-season run that swept them to third, the Sea Eagles have slumped to edge of finals oblivion with five losses from their past seven games.