Johnathan Thurston has demanded the NRL sin-bin defenders who hit vulnerable playmakers after they pass the ball.
Sia Soliola’s sickening late hit on Billy Slater – which knocked the Melbourne fullback out for 2-3 minutes last week – has put the worrying issue back under the NRL’s spotlight.
Thurston himself has regularly been a victim of the blows.
North Queensland coach Paul Green expressed fears for his star playmaker’s safety following a number of late shots last season, while NSW have often turned up the heat on the 34-year-old in the State of Origin arena.
And Thurston said the game could “definitely” do much more to protect smaller playmakers.
“Especially the touch judges – they’re the ones who should be seeing how late it is and getting the call of penalty straight away,” Thurston told the Nine Network’s The Sunday Footy Show.
“I think what we can do is just a sin-bin offence. If it’s that late, like Sia’s shot, high and late, sin-bin them.
“That’s the only way we’re going to stop it from happening.”
Thurston said players were most vulnerable when they had passed the ball well before the line.
“When you’ve played early and there are two or three seconds late, your body relaxes, and that’s when you get jammed and that’s when you get the neck and shoulder injuries,” Thurston said.
The Queensland and Kangaroos’ five-eighth’s comments come as as rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns again expressed fears the defensive tactic could hurt the development of young playmakers coming into the game.
“We’re seeing less and less ball-playing halves coming through the grades,” Johns said.
“I can imagine what the younger players see in the top grades they do in the juniors as well.
“It discourages young guys, the smaller guys to get out and be creative because they are being whacked in the rib and the kidneys.
“It’s a cheap shot – get it out of the game.”
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