The Roar
The Roar

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In defense of rugby league's shoulder charge

8th April, 2012
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8th April, 2012
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1556 Reads

The shoulder charge is a natural piece of defensive play. Yes, there is intent to hurt the opponent – this is an aggressive contact sport, after all. But it is legitimate, clean and fair.

The continuing crusade against the shoulder charge has turned the game into an overly-sanitised bore. I love big hits and love seeing big, tough men come off badly second in an aggressive clash. This is the stuff that has made rugby league great.

Just see the number of times Channel Nine shows highlights of Chief versus Spud as an example. Rugby league is a brutal game played by tough men. Its blend of brutality, skill and endurance is what makes it great. Or should I say what made it great?

The fights are long gone and, though I miss them, I can at least understand why they’ve been outlawed. Brutal high tackles, eye-gouging and spear tackles are all also, happily, pretty rare these days. I can agree that the cleaning up of the sport is a good thing.

However while I agree with those who salivate over the skill, athleticism, toughness and durability of today’s rugby league players, while also loving the closeness of the competition, I can’t help but feel today’s players are far too regulated in what they are allowed to do.

Today’s player seems to roll off a conveyor belt – they are programmed to say and do nothing which could be controversial.

Consider their plight. They are told to tackle hard, but not too hard. Don’t miss a tackle, don’t let the ball runner make too many metres, wrap up the ball, win the wrestle.

But don’t tackle the legs because it allows a quick play-the-ball, don’t tackle below the ball because it allows an off-load, don’t go above the ball because it gives away a penalty. Don’t attack the ball or you’ll be penalised for a strip. Be aggressive but don’t hurt them.

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These poor simple men just want to play footy! They want to hurt each other, accepting that it may go wrong. As long as the dirtiness and maliciousness is absent, what’s the problem? They know what they’ve signed up for – there is a risk of getting hurt!

Ben Te’o and Frank Pritchard have done nothing wrong except attempt to bring some genuine aggression and self-expression to the game.

Sadly, thanks to my rule-interpreting friends at NRL HQ, the colour from the game is slowly being drawn away. It’s bad enough that each player is locked into his own “corridor”, too scared to stray from his patch of grass or his structured role, but now they’re not even allowed to hit each other hard?

These guys spend all week lifting weights, eating red meat and being told to leave nothing in the tank. Because they’re now not allowed to drink or make jokes or have fun away from the game, that 80 minutes is their only outlet. Or at least it used to be.

I remember laughing when Lote Tuqiri went to rugby and was penalised for shoulder charging. Even as recently as last year I had a good chuckle when Sonny Bill copped the same fate.

“Ahhh rugby!” I mocked. “How dull you are!”

Now it seems the joke is on me…

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It is remarkable that such a stunning, brutal game can produce such remarkably talented athletes, yet still seem so terribly bland.

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