It didn’t have the spectacular and dramatic outcome of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves bell ringer on Cronulla prop Ben Ross, but the outcome of Adam Blair’s judiciary hearing is an important step in the right direction for rugby league.
The three man ARLC panel of Royce Ayliffe, Chris McKenna and Michael Buettner took just 10-minutes to find the Wests Tigers back rower guilty of making dangerous contact to the leg of Bulldogs centre Josh Morris.
He’ll miss this weekend’s clash with Penrith in Campbelltown leaving coach Tim Sheens with some serious headaches when it comes to filling his already depleted back row.
Blair came under the microscope of the match review committee for bending the knee of Morris in an outward direction as he was trying to get up and play the ball.
The action placed the knee of the Blues centre in an unnatural position and could’ve easily caused an injury. Body parts aren’t meant to bend that way.
The ruck in rugby league has become, at times, a grubby and dangerous place.
Necks are placed under pressure, arms are wrenched in wrestling holds and leg locks even made a brief appearance in the State of Origin decider in Brisbane last week.
Then there’s the recent trend of two players holding the ball-runner up while a third crashes in to complete the tackle.
The speed of the ruck has also become farcical at times with little to no consistency applied to the time it takes to play the ball.
Teams in possession are rarely rewarded for trying to increase the speed of the game.
Blair would’ve been hoping to buy his defensive line some time by pulling on Morris’ knee.
It would perhaps be more palatable if the current go-slow tactics didn’t have the potential to injure opponents in so many ways.
But they do.
It’s why the judiciary’s decision to suspend Blair was a giant stride in the right direction.
The incident, albeit minor, could’ve ended badly for Morris and now the Wests Tigers are without their big money signing for an important game.
If more suspensions are handed out to nigglers and wrestlers then maybe the coaches will be forced to change their tactics.
It may seem pedantic at first as case after case goes before the judiciary, but the game will be all the better for it in the end.
Will Sinclair
Guest
"The ruck in rugby league has become, at times, a grubby and dangerous place." Thankyou Melbourne Storm. Thankyou Craig Bellamy. Just another stellar contribution to the wonderful game of rugby league. The Storm really are the gift that keeps taking.
Blaze
Guest
Got me mark... It was that blatantly obvious it's incredible that it was looked past.
Blaze
Guest
That is probably going to be the biggest issue to come out of this....
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Agree completely. Blair needs to cop it and get back on deck for the Cowboys next Monday night, a crucial game for us. But Ennis! What was that all about! How did they miss it!!!!
The Barry
Roar Guru
I don't think there was much in Blairs leg twist compared to some other recent ones (Slater in Origin II). He did twist but not with great force. I can live with it being banned if it's a serious warning that this won't be tolerated but we all know it will be the usual pattern of one or two suspensions and then forget about it just in time for the semis.
Blaze
Guest
As a tigers supporter I can cop blairs suspension, the bloke still has some grubbiness in his game and I guess there is only one way to get rid of it... However how ennis didn't cop anything for diving into the legs of a player when held by his teammates has got me, that action alone is just as bad if not worse. Let's just hope this leg pulling is consistently pulled up, cause it is happening in nearly every game at one point or another..
MemberforDobell/PLANKO
Guest
Oikee LOL I will let the Lyon crack go through to keeper... Hargraves is a good player he thinks he is a great. Hargraves is unfortunate now cause he has the reputation warranted or not the refs look at him closely.
oikee
Guest
I love the aggresive style of Hargreaves, but his head high shots are simply to high now. Nails him up, nails him up i tell ya. As for Blair, been happening for a long time now, and Jamie Lyon will be next, this guy twists a leg every tackle.
Ra
Guest
But Nate Myles is still rewarded for head butts - go figure
Bulldog
Guest
Good decision to charge him, however looking at it I agree with Gordon Tallis that he should have got more time. It was not only the knee he was putting pressure on but also the hip joint as he twisted the leg sideways. This is the sort of grub act that causes serious long term injuries. This sort of thing seems to be creeping into the game. I cring most weekends as players twist the tackled players legs on the ground. It was very obviuos in game 3 of SOO with Beau Scott the main offender. He basically did it every tackle he made. I remember Luke O'Donnell suffering a long term injury after his tendon was torn off the bone in this sort of tackle.
Old Hand
Guest
When someone dies the shoulder charge to the head (accidental or not) will be banned.
bbt
Guest
Nothing will change until the tackle around the legs is rewarded. A tackle, around the legs, by a solo player, should be rewarded by approx 3-4 seconds. That is, the tackler should be allowed to hang onto the tackled player for approx 3-4 seconds, allowing his defensive line to be set. The alternative, bring back the 5 metre rule. A team where players just tackled around the legs, solo, at present would lose by 50 points at least.
steve b
Roar Guru
They need to get tougher across the board some of the tackles that dont get charged begger belief !
Great Stuff
Guest
Great News ... he should have got 2 weeks, thus discouraging other grubs from doing it. Minimum 1 week for any head shot. Any region from the neck up is TABOO.
Meesta Cool
Guest
So a high shot that causes concussion is worthy of 1 week, (The same as the player on the receiving end), Was the second report not deemed worthy of a ban, this guy oversteps the aggression every week!!.
Gremlin
Guest
About bloody time. Lets hope ALL graple type tackles are treated the same!
Ra
Guest
Can the same judiciary also make rulings on tackling with your head - i thought the tackle handbook always said "lead with the shoulder - head TO ONE SIDE - arms up and forward, hit wrap and squeeze - guess they do it different in State of Origin, with a different judiciary too