We are gathered here today to mourn the death and celebrate the life of one of our country’s last bastions of manhood. It is with deep regret and great sadness that we today say farewell to the shoulder charge.
The sudden death of the ‘bell-ringer’ rounds off a laundry list of sporting trademarks to be discarded by their own governing bodies.
In the not too distant past, we saw rugby union outlaw rucking. While it seemed a common sense decision at the time, the impact has been enormous.
Ruck-speeds now are comparable to internet speeds from 1996, when the changes came into effect. Players are lauded for their ability to take a snooze on the wrong side of the ruck, and what was once a contest using only your feet has become a contest between the defending number seven and the ref.
To illustrate the point, I recently encountered a fellow whose t-shirt read “I’m not an alcoholic… I only drink when Richie McCaw is offside”.
We’ve seen the AFL effectively outlaw ‘the bump’. The absence of Australian Rules football’s biggest collisions has cut highlight packages in non-Aussie Rules states by half. If they banned ‘the specky’ they’d get no coverage at all.
Perhaps more importantly, the bump was the primary means for the sport to separate the men from the boys.
Courage was a massive selling point for the AFL, but with the effective eradication of the bump, anyone can get their head over the ball without any fear of taking a knock.
It means that footballers are on the outer, and it opens the door for athletes to dominate the sport.
Football too has stamped out its trademark. I am referring of course to “simulation”.
While few Australians would rue the decision to introduce harsh penalties for diving, it has proven nigh on impossible to police, and has again detracted from those highlight reels.
Nothing polarises a crowd, grabs media attention and lingers in the memory quite like a spectacular and intentional fall.
So I guess what I’m saying is that these seemingly small changes to a sport can have far reaching implications.
While it is clear that the ARLC had the best intentions when outlawing the shoulder charge, I just hope they have thought all of this through.
The shoulder charge is the great momentum changer. The great ball dislodger. The great crowd pleaser.
Without it, will it be more difficult for teams to get that momentum back? Will it be harder to force a turnover? What will fewer turnovers mean for the game? Will the sport be able to reach new audiences with this sanitised version? Can any existing fan honestly say, hand on heart, that they are looking forward to this year’s Origin series more now that the shoulder charge has been banned?
The toughest game in the world has now been brought back into the pack. Without its earth-shattering collisions, rugby league could well be rugby-lite.
Rest in peace.
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