Big hits. Don’t you just love them? Sure it’s not very PC right now. But is there anything better than two 100kg-plus behemoths lining each other up, gritting their teeth and KABANG!
It’s a noise that sounds like the world is coming to an end.
Mind you, it has been a difficult couple of weeks for rugby league’s hit parade.
First Frank the Tank got put in the naughty corner. Then the Beast had to pen a written apology.
Now T-Rex is facing Origin extinction. Perhaps the NRL is just trying to eradicate overly aggressive nicknames, or maybe the landscape of rugby league is transmogrifying once more.
Rugby league is an unpredictable sport, when you turn on the telly to watch you never quite know what you’re going to get.
Sometimes it’s a beautiful lady, sometimes it’s a ferocious tiger, sometimes it’s a Roosters versus Raiders stinkfest.
There is a delicate mix of beauty and brutality involved in the game, and in this ecosystem big hits exist as discouragement of hesitancy for the code’s more skilfully blessed opponents.
But rather than just accepting that this fine balance will always exist, here we are for the seventh billion time, trying to regulate the impossible.
Warring clubs and judiciaries are employing everyone short of Stephen Hawking to determine vectors of intent, and Atticus Finch to argue nano-molecules of “not his go-ness”.
This is of course frustrating, but pales in comparison to the frustration of the banal, cyclical press that accompanies the situation.
First every crusty old player with cauliflower ears, who had his nose bitten off in a scrum, is interviewed so to tell everyone that “the game is turning into bloody netball”.
Then a couple of netball players come out and tell us how tough netball actually is. Then the netball administrators put out a press release saying netball is perfectly safe and a great game for people of both sexes.
Then the ARL commission says rugby league is increasing female player numbers. Then Kevin Sheedy comes out and tells us he actually invented women’s sport.
All of this does nothing to change the fact that if a bloke makes 25 tackles a game in 20 odd games a year, with the intent of stopping a 100kg opponent running full pelt and trying to dodge him while he’s fatigued… stuff is going to happen eventually.
I mean, what about poor old Frank Pritchard eh? For the last five years everyone has been calling him lazy and soft. Finally he has looked at himself in the mirror and eaten a few angry pills. Now he’s bad bad Leroy Brown.
A couple of centimetres lower and he would be on the highlight reels for years of smelling of Brut.
So let’s try not to demonise these blokes. The Morleys. The Dwyers. The Guttenbeils. Let’s celebrate them.
Let’s trawl through the archives to release Rugby League’s Greatest Hits! Vol. 1-17 with good, legal bone-crunchers set to classical music ensembles. I’m happy to kick things off (see below video), but I’m only one man.
If you’re a hit fan yourself and would like to contribute to the movement, I urge you to login, load up and stand up for the great hit men of the game.
Trust me, this is going to be big. In fact, I’m sure it’ll be a hit.
Vic_Arious@twitter.com
the womp
Guest
Jukebox=Menzies yere=Going to knock you into row 37 for trying to swipe his nickname
Chris Chard
Expert
Hi Oikee Kurt is still on the coast and his son plays Q-cup for Burleigh. Not sure about dangerous Dane though. Thanks for reading Cheers CC
eagleJack
Guest
Sorry oikee Im not exactly sure what you are trying to say
oikee
Guest
I agree, and very well said. Mind you, we do see alot of duty of care when a player is hurt. This is good. We must keep our big ugly angry brutes loooking good. Nobody like guys with colli-ears or broken noses. It's just not fitting.
oikee
Guest
Not everyone gets hit like that, and the smart ones never get hit. The point is, this game is for the best of the best. It is like throwing some big bruts in with the lions with spears and a sheild or ball and chain. The smart little guy just walks in with a chair. And we all know, lions are scared of chairs. :)
oikee
Guest
Good story, and also liked the one about MG looking at a angry monster in the mirror. What are they up to these days Chris, the Sorensens, i heard something about one of them not long ago, maybe it was just the Ambassador for kiwis playing league in oz. Not sure. I read something.
oikee
Guest
Steve, it is banned at under 16. And you only had to worry about shoulder charges, mate when i played, it was spear tackles that at the time were legal i had to worry about. Mind you, i also put some on as well. I was just returning the favour, as they say. Todays game is heaven, i would be a superstar if i had been around today. The spear tackle put me off, i seen to many broken necks. Today, i cant remember the last time we seen someone hurt, Maybe Benny Ross, at least he also has his looks to fall back on, half our team had broken noses and colli ears, not to mention scabs all over from the dirt grounds. Plus we also had to contend with bullheads, they are a 3 thorned prickle that lives here in the Darling Downs. You dont know what pain is until you have had a bullhead or 5 in your foot.
oikee
Guest
Give it up Eagle jack. Mate, Tony Williams after spearing the Goise into the turf like a ragdoll did the same next tackle, He looked as if he come down in a crusher , it was not a crusher, it just looked like a crusher. He never got charged for that, same as Beau Ryan. You got a problem with pretty boys. I dont care who does the tackle to who, as long as it is legal, all is fair. I love the way Hargreaves plays the game, but he makes a agressive tackle and all you hear on these blogs is, he is a grub, he should be rubbed out, ? Bullocks, like Williams, if it is legal, no contact to the head or neck, game on. What we have to stop is the refs being ruled by the crowd. If a player does not get up, he is geniunely hurt. why? Becuase they replay it on the big screen, if you lying, you get found out. Trust me, it is the refs who need educating, not the players.
JezRu
Roar Pro
Big hits are fine, love them actually, but when you make contact with the head then you have moved from a good solid tackle to what is a kin to a "King Hit". Being hit in the head that suddenly and with that amount of force has the potential to kill someone. Now I am not saying this to be an alarmist but only to point to the fact that there is the potential there. These are not small lads doing the hitting here! Yes you can say that the guy being hit is just as big, but no amount of pumping iron in the gym is going to make your skull stronger nor will it prevent your brain from bouncing around within its cavity. The fact here is that in the case of the head being hit (intentional or otherwise) the NRL must get even stronger with its resolve. You can make a perfectly good (and legal) big hit and not have the potential to maim somebody. In my opinion the advent of "ball and all" and gang tackles has led to players being taught to stand upright when making a tackle therefore greatly increasing the chance of their being a collision with the head. As for Dangerous Throws, these types of tackles can lead to someone being paralysed or worse. These tackles are avoidable, quite simply there is no need to lift a player, that is not a tackle. Players are attempting to lift the player in order to dump him unceremoniously onto his back. This process has such a high probability of going wrong a couple of degrees out on the put down and you could break a neck. My final word, I think the NRL need to make it very clear to all. If you want to attempt a tackle which places an opponents head or neck at risk, whether it be via Lifting, Shoulder Charge, Forearm, Swinging Arm, wrestling or any other means, you will be sitting on the sideline for an extensive period of time.
steve b
Guest
All depends on the ref and what jnr league your watching they see it on t.v. and try and do what their heros do and their are some huge under 16s running around who can infllict major damage . I think its one tackle they really dont need i would love to see the stats on injurys from chargers if their was any, im sure it would be high . And yes my shoulder is good now it happened some years ago but still gives me a hard time in winter
seanmaguire
Guest
The AFL went way too far removing the bump. I think it's technically still legal but if it actually hurts the opposition player it's a penalty. That and the 'melees' really turned me off the sport.
Chris Chard
Expert
Hi Steve b Interesting take on shoulder charges from someone whose been there, done that! I believe shoulder charges are banned in junior rugby league under the safe play codes, up untill at least U'16s to the best of my knowledge. Hope the shoulder's come good Cheers CC
steve b
Guest
hey oikee it hurts trust me . It just depends on how many you get put on you to add to the degree of hurt , yeh it looks great but a good around the legs tackle takes much more skill and looks just as good and less chance of major injury . i dislocated my shoulder and was out for 4 months because of a mistimed shoulder charge everyone said it looked great . It turns mum and dads away from letting jnr play the game i would like to see it outlawed in jnr league.
Chris Chard
Expert
Cheers JCVD, some quality there! CC
Chris Chard
Expert
Hi JonD No offence taken, this place has the tagline 'Your sports opinion' for a reason! We'll just have to agree to disagree. If it sets your mind at ease a bit the man being tackled, Craig Field, is still very much alive and kicking and was playing up untill last year for Cudgen Hornets on the NSW North Coast. Thanks for reading, Cheers CC
Chris Chard
Expert
Hi JVGO Good story re Sorensen, one of the original 'Bruise Brothers'. Here's a CSB of my own. I have a mate who was working for his Dad at a building site. One day a ute was blocking the driveway, so my mate's Dad sent him to find out who it belonged to. "Oi, who's parked their bloody ute across the driveway?" He yelled across the site, only for 'killer' Kurt Sorensen to step forward. Apparently he was extremely apologetic about the whole situation but geez my mate saw his life flash before his eyes ha ha Cheers CC
Chris Chard
Expert
Hi MG My point, in a meandering, roundabout sort of way is that let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater with regards to policing tackles. T-rex tackle=Bad Vatuvei tackle=Good However I would argue that with the introduction of the 10m rule and larger players there are in fact more 'big hits' these days, and less off the ball fighting/cheap shots. Win win if common sense prevails. Thanks for reading Cheers CC
Chris Chard
Expert
Hi chris I guess the real leap forward to remove excess violence from RL was via judiciary head Jim Comans in the early 80's, who gave out a couple of big suspensions to players. However as Ken points out there was a move in the decade before this to remove elements of thuggery from the game. The AFL have been quite vocal in recent years about making the sport of Aussie Rules a safer sport for everyone, which always makes me wonder how this video was ever allowed to be made ha ha http://www.ezydvd.com.au/DVD/afl-biffs-bumps-and-brawlers-1-2/dp/223372 Thanks for reading Cheers CC
Behold
Roar Rookie
The loading is pretty stupid, usually means that the original crime is undervalued so that loading doesn't make the ban seem extreme.
Chris Chard
Expert
Hi Jack C Here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l852c8mEIOE Maybe they should start calling Adrian Morley the Jukebox, 'cause he's full of hits! Cheers CC