McKinnon’s extra dose of passion

THEY made up just a small percentage of the 1.5 million who sat captivated by Alex McKinnon’s powerful 60 Minutes special on Sunday night.

But NSW players have spoken of how they plan to use the spirit and emotion surrounding the former Knights star as added motivation tomorrow.

The Blues watched the 60 Minutes story from their hotel rooms in Brisbane. His tenacity to overcome his tragic injury was a major talking point within the team yesterday.

Having arrived as a special guest to the Blues training base at Coffs Harbour last Saturday, McKinnon a former NSW under-18s captain, will hold a unique place in the NSW players’ minds according to Josh Morris and Trent Merrin, when they run out onto Suncorp Stadium. “I love Alex,’’ Merrin said. “I’ve been close to Alex for a while and just to have him, is massive. We had him in the video session and just his presence was humbling and it puts a lot into perspective.’’

Asked if McKinnon’s visit would provide extra emotion among the group prior to kickoff, Merrin said: “I’d say (there will be), he’s definitely got that presence about him, that inspiration, when you see what he’s been through and what he’s going through I think everyone takes a bit out of that and … it into perspective how lucky we are just to be playing the game that we’re playing.’’

Morris agreed with Merrin sentiment claiming the Blues were boosted by the arrival of McKinnon at training.

“It was great to see Alex at training,’’ Morris said. “It’s just good to see how he’s going with his recovery process and his positive outlook, you can’t help but be inspired by what he’s going through.

“It was definitely a have him in camp.’’

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