The decision to crackdown on the controversial shoulder charge tackle a week before the finals isn’t a knee-jerk reaction – rather an indication of how seriously the code is taking player safety, according to the ARLC.
NRL chief medical officer Ron Muratore, who is on a committee given the task of reviewing the shoulder charge, praised the move on Thursday.
“I think it’s a move in the right direction and I think the message that it’s giving is that people who do the shoulder charge are taking a big risk,” Muratore told AAP.
“And obviously we have to protect players’ heads.”
The ARLC announced this move as an ‘interim decision’ ahead of the findings, expected to be unveiled soon after the end of the season.
But former Sydney Roosters’ chief executive Brian Canavan, who is the head of the shoulder charge committee, has been in regular contact with NRL director of football operations Nathan McGuirk throughout the process leading to Thursday’s decision.
All indications are it could signal the death knell for the shoulder charge in the modern game.
Under the new guidelines, shoulder charges which result in dangerous contact will be referred directly to the NRL judiciary without grading – bypassing the match review committee – putting it in the same boat as biting, gouging and other non-graded acts.
But Muratore argues it simply outlines how seriously the game views contact with the head and an indication of how seriously it will be treated in the future.
“We’ve always taken it seriously,” he said.
“We always say that the head is sacrosanct and I think this is just reinforcing that message and saying ‘look, if you want to do a shoulder charge, then you’re taking a big risk’.
“If they go wrong, then obviously they’re going to get punished.
“It’s good that we’re serious about the whole thing. It shows we’re serious about player safety.
“The broad message that people need to understand is that we’re not just looking at one thing – player safety is paramount throughout the whole year.”
Retiring Parramatta star Luke Burt urged the game’s rulemakers to not make rash decisions over the controversial tackle’s future.
“Sometimes things accidentally hit heads. They’re (the ARLC) coming in with a knee-jerk reaction, I think,” Burt told AAP.
“You can’t ban the shoulder charge … you can’t get rid of it.
“It’s something that’s part of the game and something that belongs and it’s up to the player to make sure he makes the right contact with the attacking player.
“You’d hate to see someone rubbed out (of the finals) by an unlucky shoulder charge because it’s not deliberately trying to hit someone in the head.”
ARLC chairman John Grant said it was a necessary decision to be made on the eve of the finals.
“What we are making clear … is that the current rules are to be adhered to in a manner that discourages any player from taking unacceptable risks with the welfare of an opponent,” he said in a statement.
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