May 1, 2025 • 10 mins
New Zealand Rugby has warned Kiwis of the significant risks linked to a new “run it straight” sport, which has rival participants run at each other with full force.
“Run it straight” is touted as a new combat sport that attempts to mirror actions seen in rugby league, union and AFL matches.
It features opposing individuals – a ball runner and a tackler – run full speed at each other with the goal of trying to bowl each other over.
The Runit Championship League hosted its inaugural live tournament in Melbourne last night, and a similar event is set to come to New Zealand this month.
Former Kiwi and boxing promoter Dean Lonergan joined D'Arcy Waldegrave to discuss concerns surrounding a new sport being introduced to New Zealand.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Right here, right now. They were going to venture into
this sport Run It Straight, a new competition that's turning up,
and to explain the ins and outs of that before
we get to Dean Longigan. This is the rules. This
is from Monstrous rugby league player Nelson A Soffer Solomona.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
The rules of the game are simple, with a run
zone of ten meters. One player carries the ball and
the other defenders. If you're running, the job is simple.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
You run it straight.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
So how do you win?
Speaker 4 (00:48):
You win by.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Dominating contacts four rounds to impress the judges, hit hat
and dandel ground and inflect damage. And you're wondering what's
in it for you? Twenty thousand dollars cash.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Well, that's the ambassador for Run It Straight, Nelson A
Sofer Solomona, twenty grand Okay, yeah, you've got to wave
some baits, don't you get that right out and try
and drag people along to talk about that. Now we're
joined by form QW inter National Boxing for boxing promoter
(01:22):
Dean Longigan. Dino. Good evening, d I'm going very very
well and I know you are because that's the way
you roll relevant person to get on air for this one.
Because you're an ex league player at KIWI, you understand
contact sport and of course a promoter as well. See you.
Now all of this operates. What we're talking about. Is
(01:45):
this so called new sport that's coming to New Zealand.
It's an astonishing sport. Now you're all over this, you
know about it. Is this a sport? Is this a
sensible promotion? Should we be having a bar of it?
Speaker 4 (02:01):
That's some interesting questions. Is it a sport?
Speaker 1 (02:04):
No?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
All it is as you're taking a very very limited
part of rugby league and even rugby union and having
people run at full speed at each other. And now
the problem with it is this is that if you're
in a rugby league game and you're one hundred and
twenty kilo problem or they as they are nowadays, you
might do twenty or thirty, maybe even forty runs in
a game. You get tired, you get worn out, the
(02:28):
defense gets worn out, and none of the hits, very
few of the hits are hardcore, full on frontal hits.
Now this game run it up straight. All you've got
is sometimes and I'll be watching this on Aline. I
find it enormously entertaining, but it's not overly healthy for
the participants because I've seen a number of guys take
shots to the head and they're getting knocked out, their
(02:50):
arms are locking up, they're having fits which are not good,
which means you're getting concussed. So it's enormously entertaining. It's
absolutely built for social media. I've got no doubts it'll
attract ever growing crowds. I don't know, if you liver
fill a stadium on it, you certainly might get you
one and two and three thousand people turning up. But
(03:10):
I do believe that long term it's got It's quite
dangerous from a hit can cash in point of view,
simply because you've got guys that I've seen there make
These guys are clocking in one hundred and twenty one
hundred and thirty one hundred and forty kilos. They stand
twenty yards apart, run each other at full speed and
try to run over each other. And if you hadn't
got your technique down, which a lot of these guys
won't because they're not former professional football players, not pro
(03:32):
football players, they're going to have major injuries, one to
their shoulders, but two and more importantly to their heads.
And it's going to come. But I can tell you this,
it's entertaining.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Why do people sign up for something like this? What's
the driver?
Speaker 4 (03:46):
Oh, it's it's a full on. It's young men testing themselves.
It's the same reason why you play rguy League, you
play rugular union, you do UFC in your box because
you want to test yourself in an environment where you
feel comfortable or even outside of your own comfort zone.
And if you have a look at these guys, a
lot of the guys that are doing it, mate, there
a lot of Island boys, and they're built for this.
(04:06):
They're just big and strong, and you know they love
to express their physicality and that's what this is perfect
for is And here's the thing. For this particular sport,
you do not have to be fit. You just have
to have the ability to run ten meters, probably be
a little bit heavier than the other bloke. If you've
got a little bit more momentum and a little bit
(04:28):
more technique, you're probably going to really really put some
big hits on. And I was talking to my son
about it today because we've both watched this over the
last and a couple of months, so that's a great
idea Promotionally, I just don't think it's too healthy for people.
And the key to this thing is if you're hitting
guys on the front, you know, it's just going to
come down to momentum size. If you hit guys a
little bit to the side, so you can, you know,
(04:51):
drive you not take the full on front or momentum.
You know, the technique will go a long way to
actually be helping you win this thing. But my advice
don't get involved in this because it's going to be
incredibly physically hurt fall to some people. But that's not
going to stop people. They're going to do it because
they love it. They love the physicality. So I'll watch
(05:13):
it while it's entertaining, just fingers crossed. Nobody is too
injured in it.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And the organizers exploiting people because of the simplicity of it.
You don't actually have to know much. You just have
to run straight at somebody else. There's a case of
they're exploiting them, or maybe the people doing it should
know better. And you can't say people from yourself from theirselves,
can you.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Well, you could say you could say that for a
whole lot of things in this life, Darcy, everything from
you know, doing stupid things, getting blind as a bat
and some people get in the car and drive through
to get drunk, to the point of where you get sick.
We should all know better about doing these things. And
the one thing is it's it's it's a healthy pursuit
that you're not doing anything too wildly stupid from the
(05:56):
anxiety of your body, like put your shit in it.
You shouldn't. But I don't think it's that overly healthy
taking the big hits are the promoters exploiting people? No,
they're not, because simply people are signing up to do
it because they really want to do it. And you've
got guys, you know, and I haven't seen any woman
doing it yet, but you've got guys who are doing
it that might have had a bit of background in
rugular league and rugby union and they've just gotten too
(06:17):
big to play the game. And then they well, I
can front up for one hit, and I can front
up for one run, and it's going to be entertaining
while it lasts, and I don't know who's going to
shut it down. So I imagine it's going to last
a long time if it keeps up the social media
phenomenal that it is. Because I've seen some of these videos.
I've had a million views on them.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Wow, what about the garden? Will they climb in and go?
Hold on? This is going to end up costing the
text player. ACC is not free, and these guys are
going to end up needing care, especially in the worst
case scenarios. So maybe there's a move there going Now,
there's nothing good on this. We can't do this. It's
costing everyone cash.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Well don't. I don't know that you can stop it,
you know, for the simple reason you've got, say, take
boxing right or Emma and UFC. You've got those guys
asparring on a red on a basis, and they get
hurt in the ring, and yes they are, you know,
from an amateur all the way through the professional and
it's done under supervision. And it's fair to say this
is done under supervision. But I just you know, you
(07:19):
can't just because you don't approve of it or you
don't like what you see, doesn't mean you say you
should stop it. Because those people who are participating are
willing participants. And if they want to go out there
and do what they're doing, well, good luck to them.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Doesn't need to be sanctioned or anything. I mean, you said,
it's not really a sport. It's just an entertainment part
of anything else. So your sport's in undor that it's
commission of something. You probably just keep well away from it,
wouldn't you.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
I don't know, Das, And I think what's going to
be interesting because one of the things they have done
right is that they're showing people getting knocked out right,
and it's going to garner a lot of media or interests.
And if the traditional media hasn't jumped on it yet,
you're the first one who has. And at the end
of the day, the traditional media is cut through, is
(08:03):
diminishing all the time. But this is going to become
a social media phenomenon. Oh mate, it's just a fact,
you know it.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
I know.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
So this is a social media phenomenon. It's going to
grow bigger and bigger. I don't know if you can
sanction it. I don't know if you can shut it down.
What I do know is that people are going to
get hurt, but it's entertaining to watch.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Is it on rugby and he's it in rugby league.
To they wade into this or again just walk away.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
It sits outside their purview. It's not a game of
rugby union. It's not a game of rugby league, you know.
It's just it's a game of whoever's organizing this, they're
offentially effectively the sanctioning body as well, so they're the
ones who have to come up with the rules. It'll
be fascinating. It'll be fascinated to seed dars. It'll be
great for you to get on board on air a
(08:49):
person who's actually promoting this and running it, and you know,
run the questions against them.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
And lastly, how different is this the palace slab?
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Great question and the answer is probably not a lot
to be their except I would say this, when you
get hit in the head with the open hand, the
only you you can only generate so much force. It
is nowhere near the force of two bodies of one
hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty kilos each
running each other from ten yards or twenty yards apart
(09:17):
and connecting. And the issue in this thing is not
the physical connection between the two bodies that come together.
It's when those two bodies come together with enormous kinetic
energy and then all of a sudden, both bodies stop,
but the brain keeps going forward in the head and
smashes against your forehead. Right, That's where the issues are happening,
(09:38):
and that's why you see a number of plot props.
Now you know, at the age of thirty five, forty
and forty five are starting to get dementia and ct
and stuff like that because they would have put down
one thousand scrums and make behind and they've got eight
nine hundred kilos on each side. You're going down at
six seven eight miles per hour and you come to
an instant stop, but your brain keeps moving forward and
(10:00):
smashes against the front of your skull. That is why
the injuries are occurring. It's a brain flopping around inside
your That's why this is not ovally healthy sport.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks.
It'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Right here, right now. They were going to venture into
this sport Run It Straight, a new competition that's turning up,
and to explain the ins and outs of that before
we get to Dean Longigan. This is the rules. This
is from Monstrous rugby league player Nelson A Soffer Solomona.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
The rules of the game are simple, with a run
zone of ten meters. One player carries the ball and
the other defenders. If you're running, the job is simple.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
You run it straight.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
So how do you win?
Speaker 4 (00:48):
You win by.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Dominating contacts four rounds to impress the judges, hit hat
and dandel ground and inflect damage. And you're wondering what's
in it for you? Twenty thousand dollars cash.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Well, that's the ambassador for Run It Straight, Nelson A
Sofer Solomona, twenty grand Okay, yeah, you've got to wave
some baits, don't you get that right out and try
and drag people along to talk about that. Now we're
joined by form QW inter National Boxing for boxing promoter
(01:22):
Dean Longigan. Dino. Good evening, d I'm going very very
well and I know you are because that's the way
you roll relevant person to get on air for this one.
Because you're an ex league player at KIWI, you understand
contact sport and of course a promoter as well. See you.
Now all of this operates. What we're talking about. Is
(01:45):
this so called new sport that's coming to New Zealand.
It's an astonishing sport. Now you're all over this, you
know about it. Is this a sport? Is this a
sensible promotion? Should we be having a bar of it?
Speaker 4 (02:01):
That's some interesting questions. Is it a sport?
Speaker 1 (02:04):
No?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
All it is as you're taking a very very limited
part of rugby league and even rugby union and having
people run at full speed at each other. And now
the problem with it is this is that if you're
in a rugby league game and you're one hundred and
twenty kilo problem or they as they are nowadays, you
might do twenty or thirty, maybe even forty runs in
a game. You get tired, you get worn out, the
(02:28):
defense gets worn out, and none of the hits, very
few of the hits are hardcore, full on frontal hits.
Now this game run it up straight. All you've got
is sometimes and I'll be watching this on Aline. I
find it enormously entertaining, but it's not overly healthy for
the participants because I've seen a number of guys take
shots to the head and they're getting knocked out, their
(02:50):
arms are locking up, they're having fits which are not good,
which means you're getting concussed. So it's enormously entertaining. It's
absolutely built for social media. I've got no doubts it'll
attract ever growing crowds. I don't know, if you liver
fill a stadium on it, you certainly might get you
one and two and three thousand people turning up. But
(03:10):
I do believe that long term it's got It's quite
dangerous from a hit can cash in point of view,
simply because you've got guys that I've seen there make
These guys are clocking in one hundred and twenty one
hundred and thirty one hundred and forty kilos. They stand
twenty yards apart, run each other at full speed and
try to run over each other. And if you hadn't
got your technique down, which a lot of these guys
won't because they're not former professional football players, not pro
(03:32):
football players, they're going to have major injuries, one to
their shoulders, but two and more importantly to their heads.
And it's going to come. But I can tell you this,
it's entertaining.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Why do people sign up for something like this? What's
the driver?
Speaker 4 (03:46):
Oh, it's it's a full on. It's young men testing themselves.
It's the same reason why you play rguy League, you
play rugular union, you do UFC in your box because
you want to test yourself in an environment where you
feel comfortable or even outside of your own comfort zone.
And if you have a look at these guys, a
lot of the guys that are doing it, mate, there
a lot of Island boys, and they're built for this.
(04:06):
They're just big and strong, and you know they love
to express their physicality and that's what this is perfect
for is And here's the thing. For this particular sport,
you do not have to be fit. You just have
to have the ability to run ten meters, probably be
a little bit heavier than the other bloke. If you've
got a little bit more momentum and a little bit
(04:28):
more technique, you're probably going to really really put some
big hits on. And I was talking to my son
about it today because we've both watched this over the
last and a couple of months, so that's a great
idea Promotionally, I just don't think it's too healthy for people.
And the key to this thing is if you're hitting
guys on the front, you know, it's just going to
come down to momentum size. If you hit guys a
little bit to the side, so you can, you know,
(04:51):
drive you not take the full on front or momentum.
You know, the technique will go a long way to
actually be helping you win this thing. But my advice
don't get involved in this because it's going to be
incredibly physically hurt fall to some people. But that's not
going to stop people. They're going to do it because
they love it. They love the physicality. So I'll watch
(05:13):
it while it's entertaining, just fingers crossed. Nobody is too
injured in it.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
And the organizers exploiting people because of the simplicity of it.
You don't actually have to know much. You just have
to run straight at somebody else. There's a case of
they're exploiting them, or maybe the people doing it should
know better. And you can't say people from yourself from theirselves,
can you.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Well, you could say you could say that for a
whole lot of things in this life, Darcy, everything from
you know, doing stupid things, getting blind as a bat
and some people get in the car and drive through
to get drunk, to the point of where you get sick.
We should all know better about doing these things. And
the one thing is it's it's it's a healthy pursuit
that you're not doing anything too wildly stupid from the
(05:56):
anxiety of your body, like put your shit in it.
You shouldn't. But I don't think it's that overly healthy
taking the big hits are the promoters exploiting people? No,
they're not, because simply people are signing up to do
it because they really want to do it. And you've
got guys, you know, and I haven't seen any woman
doing it yet, but you've got guys who are doing
it that might have had a bit of background in
rugular league and rugby union and they've just gotten too
(06:17):
big to play the game. And then they well, I
can front up for one hit, and I can front
up for one run, and it's going to be entertaining
while it lasts, and I don't know who's going to
shut it down. So I imagine it's going to last
a long time if it keeps up the social media
phenomenal that it is. Because I've seen some of these videos.
I've had a million views on them.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Wow, what about the garden? Will they climb in and go?
Hold on? This is going to end up costing the
text player. ACC is not free, and these guys are
going to end up needing care, especially in the worst
case scenarios. So maybe there's a move there going Now,
there's nothing good on this. We can't do this. It's
costing everyone cash.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Well don't. I don't know that you can stop it,
you know, for the simple reason you've got, say, take
boxing right or Emma and UFC. You've got those guys
asparring on a red on a basis, and they get
hurt in the ring, and yes they are, you know,
from an amateur all the way through the professional and
it's done under supervision. And it's fair to say this
is done under supervision. But I just you know, you
(07:19):
can't just because you don't approve of it or you
don't like what you see, doesn't mean you say you
should stop it. Because those people who are participating are
willing participants. And if they want to go out there
and do what they're doing, well, good luck to them.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Doesn't need to be sanctioned or anything. I mean, you said,
it's not really a sport. It's just an entertainment part
of anything else. So your sport's in undor that it's
commission of something. You probably just keep well away from it,
wouldn't you.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
I don't know, Das, And I think what's going to
be interesting because one of the things they have done
right is that they're showing people getting knocked out right,
and it's going to garner a lot of media or interests.
And if the traditional media hasn't jumped on it yet,
you're the first one who has. And at the end
of the day, the traditional media is cut through, is
(08:03):
diminishing all the time. But this is going to become
a social media phenomenon. Oh mate, it's just a fact,
you know it.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
I know.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
So this is a social media phenomenon. It's going to
grow bigger and bigger. I don't know if you can
sanction it. I don't know if you can shut it down.
What I do know is that people are going to
get hurt, but it's entertaining to watch.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Is it on rugby and he's it in rugby league.
To they wade into this or again just walk away.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
It sits outside their purview. It's not a game of
rugby union. It's not a game of rugby league, you know.
It's just it's a game of whoever's organizing this, they're
offentially effectively the sanctioning body as well, so they're the
ones who have to come up with the rules. It'll
be fascinating. It'll be fascinated to seed dars. It'll be
great for you to get on board on air a
(08:49):
person who's actually promoting this and running it, and you know,
run the questions against them.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
And lastly, how different is this the palace slab?
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Great question and the answer is probably not a lot
to be their except I would say this, when you
get hit in the head with the open hand, the
only you you can only generate so much force. It
is nowhere near the force of two bodies of one
hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty kilos each
running each other from ten yards or twenty yards apart
(09:17):
and connecting. And the issue in this thing is not
the physical connection between the two bodies that come together.
It's when those two bodies come together with enormous kinetic
energy and then all of a sudden, both bodies stop,
but the brain keeps going forward in the head and
smashes against your forehead. Right, That's where the issues are happening,
(09:38):
and that's why you see a number of plot props.
Now you know, at the age of thirty five, forty
and forty five are starting to get dementia and ct
and stuff like that because they would have put down
one thousand scrums and make behind and they've got eight
nine hundred kilos on each side. You're going down at
six seven eight miles per hour and you come to
an instant stop, but your brain keeps moving forward and
(10:00):
smashes against the front of your skull. That is why
the injuries are occurring. It's a brain flopping around inside
your That's why this is not ovally healthy sport.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks.
It'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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