It is blatant that the NRL is neither serious nor genuine in its attempt to stamp the shoulder charge out of the game.
The handling of the latest incident involving Wests Tigers forward, Bodene Thompson, is testament to that.
Thompson, in his team’s Round 5 loss to the Melbourne Storm, performed an act commonly known as ‘grass cutting’ on Storm five-eighth, Gareth Widdop, as he kicked the ball.
This illegal play wasn’t only a grass cut, but a shoulder charge with the potential to cause serious injury.
The on-field officials completely missed it, failing to place Thompson on report, instead penalising Billy Slater for being offside in the very same play.
The Tigers second rower was eventually charged with dangerous contact on a kicker after the Match Review Committee acknowledged the illegal play and possible subsequent injury.
Thompson’s acceptance of an early guilty plea will see him miss one game. One game, for what could have caused the victim of his recklessness an entire season.
The approach the NRL has taken has been reactive, to say the least.
There is no doubt that if a shoulder charge caused a serious injury, the aggressor would cop a lengthy suspension. However, because no injury occurred, a one-week ban is all we see.
The time has come for fans, media, ex-players and even current players and coaches to stop demanding the shoulder charge be reinstated into rugby league.
The NRL made the decision to ban the shoulder charge. The RLIF followed suit and has banned the act internationally.
It is now a spectacular play of yesteryear and will not be back. Not in a legal capacity, anyway.
The rule change, while removing a much-loved part of the spectacle of the game, is about protecting the players. Research now shows such contact can result in memory loss, other brain-related medical issues and possible death.
The players need and deserve to be protected. They are the product, the life blood of this great game.
If the NRL is serious about eradicating the shoulder charge from the game, a proactive approach was needed from the moment Dylan Farrell put boot to ball and kicked off the 2013 season.
Thompson isn’t the only player who can consider himself lucky the judiciary are not yet aptly suspending players for shoulder charge offences.
The judiciary missed their first chance to stamp authority on this aspect of the game following the Round 3 Gold Coast v Manly clash.
It was in this game that Manly’s Richie Fa’aoso blindsided Ashley Harrison with a late shoulder charge – a charge that should never have been downgraded.
Manly argued that the grading was too harsh, claiming that the contact was an ‘accidental’ head clash. The judiciary, accepting this joke of a defence, gave Fa’aoso a meagre one match ban.
Geoff Toovey, who is rarely happy with a call the NRL makes unless it benefits his team, insisted on an overhaul of the NRL judiciary’s grading system.
To put the charge into perspective, Brisbane Broncos captain, Sam Thaiday, copped the same consequence for grabbing a referee’s shirt.
This makes a mockery of the entire judicial process.
Yes, Thaiday should have had his one week on the sideline, but Richie’s holiday on the bench should have been longer.
His shoulder charge, whether the head clash was ‘accidental’ or not, was the direct cause of Harrison’s concussion.
When a defender’s arms are tucked in with his shoulder braced, it’s pretty damn hard to not align his head with the ball carrier’s. When a defender’s body is tensed, ready for an impact not unlike being hit by a fridge, it’s near impossible to move quickly enough to avoid a pending head collision.
A legal tackle now stipulates the defender’s arms wrap the attacker on impact. Good technique also requires the head of the tackler to be manipulated to the tackling side, thus reducing the chances of a head or neck injury to the defender himself, let alone the ball carrier.
Had Fa’aoso attempted a legal tackle, the chances of the sickening head collision would have been significantly reduced.
I challenge the NRL judiciary to prove that the safety of the players is paramount and throw the book at the player who next commits a dangerous shoulder charge on his adversary.
A one week holiday is weak.
The NRL needs to stop with the talk and act.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
After his goal-kicking heroics a few weeks ago in Canberra, the commentators joked he must be a "sideline specialist" after missing this penalty that…
The Tigers finished the game with 11 men after David Klemmer was sent for ten minutes for dissent, and following a fracas, Seyfarth was…
Benji Marshall has plenty of kids in his side and, sitting 14-6 to the good at half time over the Bulldogs, he might have…
Brent Naden was penalised for running a kick chaser off the ball, while Aidan Sezer was also lucky to stay on the field for…
Josh Addo-Carr looked to have produced a great try down the left touchline, but some desperate defence prevented Bronson Xerri from getting there first.
Viliame Kikau threw the ball to Josh Addo-Carr who was standing two metres in front of him when the pass was thrown.
