{"id":347153,"date":"2023-11-16T22:59:22","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T23:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=347153"},"modified":"2023-11-17T01:02:17","modified_gmt":"2023-11-17T01:02:17","slug":"i-do-get-angry-walkers-koori-knockout-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=347153","title":{"rendered":"'I do get angry': Walker's Koori Knockout defence"},"content":{"rendered":"

NRL<\/a> stars Cody Walker<\/a> and \ufeffKotoni Staggs<\/a> have launched a passionate defence of the Koori Knockout amid suggestions they should avoid it.<\/p>\n

The annual rugby league carnival acts as a pilgrimage of sorts for Indigenous players from all levels, as well as families and wider fans.<\/p>\n

\ufeffBut it's attracted some unwanted headlines in recent weeks, largely due to Bulldogs and Origin superstar Josh Addo-Carr being filmed in a wild brawl at the tournament in October<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Australia survives in thriller to seal World Cup final spot<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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There were also questions asked of Latrell Mitchell after he made a cameo appearance despite making himself unavailable for Kangaroos selection<\/a> that same week.<\/p>\n

\"Foxx<\/p>\n

\ufeffMitchell told critics to not "get it twisted", and he found support in Australian coach Mal Meninga despite the latter being "surprised" to see the gun fullback-centre in action.<\/p>\n

Speaking to 9News in Bathurst, where next year's Koori Knockout will be staged, Walker said those who aren't involved in the carnival don't understand its purpose.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI do get angry, because it's certainly something that no one has ever asked me what I think about it," Walker said.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI think my track record is I've always given back to community.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI can only speak for my team, but we have a dinner every night, we sit down and we talk… it's all to do with laughter and creating a family environment where our kids are safe."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Staggs said the Koori Knockout held a special place in his heart, and the Addo-Carr incident was an unfortunate, albeit isolated, incident.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffBefore I even started playing NRL, this was the footy that made me who I am today," Staggs told 9News.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI don't want people outside to think that (the Addo-Carr fight) is what the Knockout's all about, because it's not.<\/p>\n

"It's about \ufeffgetting out there and having fun, playing with your brothers, the ones you grew up with.<\/p>\n

"That was just one incident that shouldn't have (happened)."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NRL stars Cody Walker and \ufeffKotoni Staggs have launched a passionate defence of the Koori Knockout amid suggestions they should avoid it. The annual rugby […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":341820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347153"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=347153"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":347157,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347153\/revisions\/347157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/341820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=347153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=347153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=347153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}