It seems suggesting the All Whites, All Blacks and Warriors break a leg in their upcoming games is tempting fate rather than invoking good luck.
Graham Henry has the difficult task of naming an All Blacks squad from slim pickings due to a high injury count and the exodus of middle-tier players overseas.
The game against the Socceroos was anything but friendly at times and the injury count proved costly for the All Whites, who may lose Tim Brown due to a fractured shoulder.
Right winger Leo Bertos was also on the receiving end of Vince Grella's gorilla tackles but luckily for him, a shinpad came between him and a broken leg.
And the Warriors have been playing valiantly despite injuries creating havoc with their team line-up.
Why are all these injuries occurring? Physiologically, it could be suggested that the power of athletes these days increases the likelihood of injury due to greater forces being applied over a shorter amount of time.
Professional athletes also talk of heavy training and playing schedules which reduce the chance to recover.
Many of us may expect that, in a professional environment, athletes should be less prone to injury, and injury recovery times should reduce.
Research, however, has shown that pain and injuries become normalised in commercialised and professional sports.
The normalisation of pain is due to strong adherence to a set of subcultural norms ("no pain, no gain"), identifying closely with notions of masculinity ("harden up") and/or because an extensive network of relationships puts pressure on athletes to continue competing despite injuries ("we need you").
A group of researchers in 2000 interviewed medical staff and players in English professional football and found that a central aspect of the culture was a willingness to play with pain or when injured.
Doing so reflected a good attitude and not playing with pain or an injury brought into question that player's commitment and masculinity.
Similar research in 2002 investigated the management of injuries in men's elite rugby union in England and found that although playing with pain was accepted, playing injured was not.
Anecdotally, attitudes in professional rugby league wouldn't be much different.
So do we accept the high injury count we are experiencing in football, union and league? These sports are high risk, and injuries are inevitable.
The problem is that in a small country such as New Zealand, we cannot produce a quick and never-ending supply of athletic talent to fill the gaps left by injury.
Our talent pool is not that deep and our athletic talent is not that expendable.
All we can do as a small nation is try to slow the exodus of players due to injury by injecting, taping, manipulating and praying that our athletes will stay in one piece (with some baling twine) long enough to compete.
So come on guys, think "no pain, no gain" and "harden up" because we need you.
