A plea to keep shoulder charges
Roar Pro By Nicholashugo, 31 Jul 2012 Nicholashugo is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- NRL, NRL shoulder charge, Rugby League, shoulder charge
So I am writing this while still in a daze through a combination of recklessness, a steep slope, and a skateboard that landed on the back of my head on the pavement, resulting in what’s commonly known as a concussion.
It was a scary experience; I found myself disorientated and my limbs numb moments after the fall, and it was minutes after that I was only able to get up on my feet.
My mates, who just so happen to be medicine students, were terrified at first, then they got excited and started to discuss amongst themselves. All I heard were words like instant death and hemorrhaging; not how I planned to spend my Sunday night.
This got my remaining operating brain cells thinking, is the NRL on the right path attempting to progressively phase out the shoulder charge era?
Sports codes around the world have been taking a more active role in regards to concussion concerns; they now understand that concussion is a major contributor to later severe brain damage and in a bid to protect themselves from a class lawsuit, they are taking a straight lined approach in preventing head injuries.
I can understand why some sports need to proactively ban certain concussion inducing tackling techniques; after all, players these days are bigger, faster, stronger, more athletic, and the impact when they run into each other is on a different magnitude as it was back in the day.
But should rugby league get rid of shoulder charges? I was sold for a second, being someone who just got concussed. But then I realised why I love playing both codes of rugby; the fun part is just giving an opponent a solid shot.
Bone crunching tackles are what players aim for; it’s basically the equivalent of a dunk in basketball, it’s a statement to your teammates, your opponents and people who are watching.
We might come off like Chris Sandow at times, but when we pull them off, it’s the best feeling in the world to hear the gasps.
See rugby league was designed to be gasp inducing; the lack of rucking, mauling and scrumming allows for a high-octane offense; shoulder charges are legal because as far as entertainment goes, a player in full speed running into a shoulder can hardly be topped.
It’s the identity of the sport; without it, players might as well play a game of touch footy instead. Shoulder charge is what makes Souths players feel like they are Russell Crowe’s fellow gladiators; it is what gives a small guy like Sandow the irrational confidence to against all odds, induce fear amongst physically bigger players; it is how Greg Inglis declares to opponents that ‘you shall not pass’.
There will be injuries inflicted by shoulder charges, which come hand in hand with the sport, but players knew what they sign up for when they run onto the field.
The sport should instead focus on outlawing other aspects of the game that not only contribute to severe injuries but are fundamentally in conflict with the spirit of the game.
- Explore:
- NRL, NRL shoulder charge, Rugby League, shoulder charge
July 31st 2012 @ 4:03am
Johnno said | July 31st 2012 @ 4:03am | Report comment
-I think for mine grass technology or astro turf technology have to be seriously looked at in improving if possible.
-Coz you think about some those incidents in the news where street fights have happened and the victim has died not from the hit but from hitting the hard concrete ground on there head. That is why Ice Hockey concussions are so dangerous, on hard ice, and on that fibre glass boards.
-The late DR Victor Chang the doctor who died in the 1990′s in Australia was shot in the head. But he did not in fact die from the gun shot wounds to the head. The remarkable thing was the human body is so complex that certain parts of the head the skull are stronger than others he actually would of lived it did not hit specific parts of his skull that cause death. What Dr Victor Chang died from was hitting his head on the hard concrete not the bullets remarkably so. So if he was shot on soft grass he would be here today almost certainly unless his attackers shot him again knowing he was still conscious.
So head trauma is often about specific parts where the blow lands and secondary impacts straight after a hit eg like concrete or hard ice floor in ice hockey, or hard wood floor in basketball.
-So ban cricket pitches on footy fields eg like at the gabba, and if the shoulder charge is too stay have the grass or astro turf extra soft or lush. Or bring in gridiron helmets.
July 31st 2012 @ 8:51am
turbodewd said | July 31st 2012 @ 8:51am | Report comment
1. There is nothing wrong with the shoulder charge, but if you attack someone’s head you should be penalise and receive a suspension just like Inglis did. 3 weeks for his hit on Young seems fair to me. Inglis should have effected a normal tackle, it would have been massive and bumped the ball loose.
2. If we are serious about head trauma we should make headgear compulsory. I mean every 3rd week we see a shocking head clash. Some idiots might think it would make our players soft…riiight…so how about your raise your kids and give them zero immunisation so they dont get raised as soft.
July 31st 2012 @ 9:53am
mushi said | July 31st 2012 @ 9:53am | Report comment
Head gear is only going to work if it covers the jawline and the cheekbones, this cuts down your field of vision.
July 31st 2012 @ 11:51am
Gareth said | July 31st 2012 @ 11:51am | Report comment
But it would look pretty hilarious, like when Joel Thompson got mummified last year.
July 31st 2012 @ 11:56am
Hamish said | July 31st 2012 @ 11:56am | Report comment
And I played Rugby all those years thinking it was about getting hold of the ball rather than trying to nail my opponent…
July 31st 2012 @ 12:33pm
steve b said | July 31st 2012 @ 12:33pm | Report comment
As most know who are regulars on the roar my feelings about the shoulder charge ,,but if we are to keep it,,, the penalty for going to the head must be big and keep it consistent ,,so as to keep the guys thinking about putting it on right or just not trying it at all ..
July 31st 2012 @ 1:42pm
Johnno said | July 31st 2012 @ 1:42pm | Report comment
Maybe ramp it up to 10-20 weeks for Inglis shot, that would make him think twice saw with some of Frank Pritchard’s hit. You gotta get tough 3 weeks is just a nice rest to freshen up where as 10-20 weeks will really hurt you as you may even have your contract torn up. Get tough, people do notice and do react. Many Asian nations have the death penalty for drug possession of certain illegal drugs yes drugs possession, Malaysia is one . Singapore and Thailand are very tough on drug trafficking. And Australian was executed in singapore for heroin trafficking in 2005. So you get tough people think twice about breaking the law in tough nations like singapore. That is why I think things this is my personal opinion but things like speeding tickets or parking tickets should get 5 years jail or drink driving 10 years. Why it gets people to behave, a casual fine or or good behaviour bond doesn’t phase most people. But if you go out to the footy or have an extra drink at a party, you will think twice about having that extra drink if you know you are facing 10 years jail for drink driving.
Where as with footy suspensions too, 3 weeks for a hit to the head that in regular society would be deemed assault to cause grevious bodily harm. Can you imagine the public uproar if some one hit someone like that in Kings cross the way GI hit dean young.
There would be an outrage, instead 3 weeks off to freshen up for the final series. So soft. Australia could learn a lot from countries like SIngapore, and Malaysia and thailand and Indonesia about getting tough and not tolerating nonsense.
July 31st 2012 @ 6:27pm
Gleeso said | July 31st 2012 @ 6:27pm | Report comment
Keep shoulder charge legal but emphasis that the onus is on the defender to stay away from the head in execution – so that even if it is accidental (ie the ball carrier falls) it is still an offense to contact the head during a shoulder charge with a suspension to follow.
August 8th 2012 @ 1:23pm
moses said | August 8th 2012 @ 1:23pm | Report comment
talking to my grandfayher the other day about the shoulder charge him and his mates and i agree wat they were saying that whoever does it r cowards they used it in there day so did i but we used our arm or both which is more effected if any one in the nrl wats to learn how to tackle properly i will teach them how to shoulder tackle no seriously no one knows how to tackle these days players like ingliss and co just were not taught properly when they were young must of been stupid coaches wat do u think only reply if u know how to tackle properly
August 1st 2012 @ 2:54am
Jeff said | August 1st 2012 @ 2:54am | Report comment
I am new arrival in Australia. I really like aggressive NRL. Shoulder charge is spectacular among the young bulls. I watch AFL occasionally. If man AFL player gets bumped off feet, he cries and his mummy is called straight away! And player who plays rough is banned for weeks – unbelievable!!
August 1st 2012 @ 11:26am
Sledgeandhammer said | August 1st 2012 @ 11:26am | Report comment
As a rugby union supporter I really hope that the NRL keeps shoulder charges, continues to promote the game as the ‘toughest most violent sport on the planet’ and glorifies the onfield fights, and tribalistic hatred as seen in the SOO. Without passing judgement on this culture, it is getting further and futher apart from rugby in which player wellfare is one of the key principles. Hopefully in the long term the two sports will become so distinct people in new markets be able to choose which approach suits them, and so the current confusion between the two ‘rugbyies’ will become less and less.
August 1st 2012 @ 6:28pm
Dr John said | August 1st 2012 @ 6:28pm | Report comment
and all league players have brain damage and shortened lives??? nuts
August 2nd 2012 @ 5:56pm
Damn Straight said | August 2nd 2012 @ 5:56pm | Report comment
Exaggeration much?
August 3rd 2012 @ 12:20am
LeagueLunatic said | August 3rd 2012 @ 12:20am | Report comment
Player welfare in Rugby Union? How many kids are paralysed in your barbaric scrums and rucks? Rugby is a more dangerous sport than League, the severity and consistency of injuries in Rugby is far worse than anything in League.
If League had anything like the sort of injuries you see in Rugby scrums then the shoulder charge would have been banned 10 years ago.
League has led the way on professionalism and player welfare and always will. The only difference between the two codes is that Rugby Union is free of media scrutiny and is more akin to a cult, in which members of the Rugby fraternity do not see problems within their own game, and so most Rugby fans are too intellectually challenged to actually grasp that their sport has its problems.
But that’s Rugby hypocrites for you. You won’t see the scrum or ruck banned any time soon, despite the thousands of Rugby players already with no movement below the neck thanks to the sport. Forget the tens of thousands of people with broken necks from scrums and rucks.
Player welfare? Don’t make me laugh. Rugby is perhaps the most dangerous team sport in the world as far as spinal injuries are concerned. Good job you have an old boys network in media and government to keep the issue brushed under the rug.
August 1st 2012 @ 11:56am
Crosscoder said | August 1st 2012 @ 11:56am | Report comment
For a start it is not the NRL that looks after the promotion of the game,but the ARLC..
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The game is promoted as a tough sport,and one suggests it hardly glorifies fights as Matai and Stewart found out.And jennings found out in SOO1.
“Without passing judgement”,well you just did.Always love it when a union fan,promotes the perceived exemplary conduct onfield of their code’s players.The ivory tower still exists in this world.
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It is not the head body,but the likes of ch9 and some old dinosaurs that promote fights.The official code’s promotion shows tries being scored,tackles made andf the star players
The RLPA and the head body,have introduced rule changes and penalties, that have been extremely concerned about player welfare eg tackling a player in mid air,tackling a kicker after he has kicked the ball, 3rd ,man in a fight,tackling a man around the legs whilst the player has been called held,the head is sacrosanct.
Have not heard of an eye gouge in recent times ,which has happend in union.Little things happen in rucks at times.
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There is no confusion between the two rugbys as FTA TV will attest.One is open ,one is technical.If there was any confusion in this country,the Tv ratings would perhaps be identical and I might have remained a union follower.
August 1st 2012 @ 3:02pm
Sledgeandhammer said | August 1st 2012 @ 3:02pm | Report comment
Crosscoder, I didn’t mention player conduct at all. Shoulder charges and dust ups have been included in promotional material for the NRL and SOO (if this is the work of the ARLC, then great). The fans who comment on utube videos and in blogs in general, provide an insight into the sports culture. Call it glatitorial if you will. No judement call. I’m sure the NFL also celebrates big hits and the UFC celebrates knock outs. So be it. In my mind the distinction is there as the IRB is getting stricter on so called dangerous play every year. This is not because rugby players are ‘gentlemen’ but is a financial perogative to allow rugby union to gain acceptance into the Olympics and new markets around the world. It is both a strength and weakness of rugby, and a real difference between the two sports.