Appears to now be confirmed.
https://www.nrl.com/news/2021/05/12/...-sharks-offer/
*Not to be confused with Mike Stephenson, MBE
Looks like the top five are beginning to pull way a bit with this weekends results so far.
Loyal and true, not a glory hunter.
There's a big gulf in standard isn't there between the top five as you say, and the rest- we're seeing lots of blow out scores.
All the sin bins and send offs have been noticeable too for almost any contact with the head. Will be interesting to see if this new enforcement comes over here.
*Not to be confused with Mike Stephenson, MBE
Obviously there is a big push to protect against concussions, but the amount of sin bins in the NRL this weekend is ridiculous. I reckon there are more concussions from heads hitting the floor, knees and hips than from high tackles (wild guess). What bothers me is that there are too many that just look accidental that are getting sin bins. Contact sport, accidents will happen, this can’t happen if we want to keep the same game.
This weekends ruling in the NRL have been ridiculous. Plus once you enforce to this standard how do you do a u-turn on it. The NRL can’t turn around 180 and say ‘second thoughts, it’s ok to hit people above the shoulder’
screaming in the family corner, scaring the kiddies
If the NRL persist with penalising head shots, whether intentional or accidental, the consequence will be a change in technique from players. Rugby union has been applying a much more rigorous interpretation of contact with the head in both tackling and clearing out the ruck with several Premiership games each week having red or yellow cards issued. The players are beginning to adapt and the same will happen in league - we may even see Liam Farrell manage to see out a game without a high shot. Given the concerns over concussion and the possibility of legal action from players if the rugby league authorities do not follow due diligence, I can’t see any relaxation in approach occurring. What it may do is encourage players not to attempt “choke” tackles leading to fewer players in the tackle, more offloading and quicker play-the-balls.
But league is faster than union. Chin tickles are inevitable in a collision sport like league no matter how good your tackle technique is imo.
screaming in the family corner, scaring the kiddies
What was so different in the 2 high tackles in the Titans v Panthers this morning. 1 got 10 minutes, 1 was sent off. I accept the one on the Panthers player was more dramatic but that was just the line the defender and attacker were running. Both were shots to the head.
Loyal and true, not a glory hunter.
Just got back from Brisbane and although most of the crowd were angry at the number of penalties and it did slow the game down, I thought there were far less players going off for head tests.
if that is continued over the season it has to be a good thing
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It's a good direction to go in, to strive to eliminate head injuries but I'm not sure a knock to the face should instantly = on report & 10 mins in the bin (at least).
There are sometimes mitigating circumstances, like the attacking player ducking in to the tackle, etc... and the NRL refs have been pretty card-happy in the last week or so, and the number of sin bins has been crazy! It's great to see them trying to improve player safety, but I don't think all circumstances are as black or white as they are trying to impress.
I agree and there were several instances of referee's giving penalties when the man with the ball was clearly falling into the tackle, it's obviously incredibly difficult not to go high in that situation.
I'm sure it will calm down over the coming weeks
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Both of the calls on Victor Radley this morning were an absolute joke, rugby league is going the same way as rugby union...soft!
Everything thing is "High and forceful" at the moment, when it really isn't.
Radley's first was a bit late on the kicker but you can see he went to wrap his arms around the tackle. Second one he absolutely nailed Tevita Pangai in a cracking tackle, and again he is sent to the bin.
Absolute joke, someone needs to get a grip of it otherwise we may as well just play tag.
I thought similar, seeing the highlights of that game. In the game after (the Canberra vs Melbourne one), Asofa-Solomona was hit high and yet the perpetrator (I think it was Corey Horsburgh) was just put on report and not sent to the bin. So there's still some inconsistency there. Across the 8 games at magic round, there was 14 sin bins, 3 send offs and 24 charges the stats say, so interesting to see what the count is at the end of this round. I do support the use of the sin bin and the need to protect the kickers and smaller players, but there has to be a balance somehow because of the intensity and speed of the game.
On a side note, looked like Albert Kelly had a good game for Brisbane, his first back in the NRL from being over here. I always felt he was a standout player when he was over here.
*Not to be confused with Mike Stephenson, MBE
That was awesome from Penrith, they are just so good to watch and so entertaining. Absolute quality side!
Don't shoot me , but will the time come when the wearing of 'headguards' would be compulsory?.
roy litherland it's happened i told you it would
Bob Fulton has died -the word legend is overused these days but he certainly was one.