2012 to end with the ARLC's biggest decision

I agree with you, and is why that tackle is now banned. See his arm(inglis) it is cocked, or loaded as they say. Under the new rule this is illigel. It is a very simple ruling to make. if you were holding a sheild, like the Romans yes, then you hold it and cock your arm in battle. and use the sheild as a weapon. This is what the NRL wants stamped out, i agree. So Inglis would have lost 800 points, grade five charge, what is that, 12 weeks. ?

Seems to me that "jelly" already exists inside some "pudding" heads! Take another look at the Inglis tackle on Young & tell me exactly HOW that arm can "slip up" when it is quite clear that the INTENTION of the shoulder-charge tackle is to "wreak havoc" ~ http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2012/07/22/1226432/206130-greg-inglis.jpg

Sanity has prevailed. THe only action taken on the shoulder charge is dropping your arm into your body as to form a sheild like structure that can wreck havoc and slip up off the ball and hit someone flush in the head, will be charged.. Look, it is all about head contact, nothing more, nothing less Scott. The whole ruling was overkill. Cool heads have won out again, thank goodness. You and your pair of mates here would have them wrapped in cotton wool behind a screen and calling them video players. Any softer you might as well throw some jelly into the puddings. :)

When I was a young man and never been kissed,I was taught to tackle with both arms,the shoulder was used to carry heavier items. When did the likes of Wayne Pearce,Stever Rogers,Johnny Raper et al find the need to ignore their arms and use the shoulder?.The shoulder ,is used to provide the body force to get the player off balance ,the arms are the positioning tools in which to do it.At least that is my interpretation. I have never left a game of rugby league,offering the view ,that it was a poor game as no shoulder charges of note were used.When I have commented on an exciting game,the running,tackling ,evasiveness and skills are brought to the fore in my thinking.See Sattler(a forward's)grass cutting ackle in the Grand final a few years back,still get goose bumps. The banning of the shoulder charge(which can invariably,yet not often lead to dangerous head contact)will have a decent flow on effect.One of the junior rugby league execs in my local area,commented in teh local rag , he will now be in a better position to encourage morthers to get their kids to play the game, in what is a very competitive junior environment. The game is as tough as it gets already ,has been for yponks,before shoulder charges came into vogue.Yes performed correctly (which unfortunately is not always the case) it can look spectacular,then so is sky diving,until the chute fails.O!! hindsight a wonderful thing. Accidents will always occur in any sport contact or non contact,ever been hit in the "macadamias"by a cricket ball. The head is sacrosanct,and must be protected as best as a code can do.

oikee mate i don.t think you have ever been on the end of a shoulder charge to the head mate , or wait a minute maybe you have .i have to agree with Mushi Bigjohn, and Scott .

I think you are missing the point mushi. It doesn't matter if you or I or every Roarer thinks that differentiating a shoulder charge from a normal tackle is simple. It is the men in pink who matter and on past efforts when it comes to subjective rulings they repeatedly fail miserably. Think Obstruction rulings and strippings etc. But the difference between an incorrect obstruction or strip ruling is a lost penalty or scrum to the opposition. An incorrect shoulder charge call will cost a team 10mins with only 12 on the field. That is game changing. It won''t be left to the judiciary as you are suggesting. It will be an instantaneous judgement call made by a bunch of men in the middle who are never on the same page, so we can't expect any consistency. One can only hope that Daniel Anderson will have his men ready. I actually believe he will make a big difference. So maybe Im letting the past failings of the refs cloud my judgement.

oikee I agree with Mushi and Bigjohn. You are on drugs!! First NFL are all padded up like a Egyptian Mummy plus they play in crash helmets. NRL should be about skill, not brutality. Every year more big giant Polynesians replace skinny skilled Caucasians. All players have ticker but we need to ensure the skill factor always remains. We have very few genuine organisers today. I could name them on one hand..

THIS is TACKLING ~ http://images.smh.com.au/2011/06/13/2426841/Roosters_Storm13-600x400.jpg http://media2.apnonline.com.au/img/media/images/2012/08/14/9-1425416-STA140812GREMLINS%20(12)_fct873x537x2x47_t460.jpg THIS is INTENT to HARM ~ http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2012/07/22/1226432/206130-greg-inglis.jpg

Defining "shoulder charge" isn't the only contentious area yet to be addressed ~ What about when a tackle is completed? The way it's played now, a player in possession in his own quarter can be monstered by three or more defenders back in-goal, forcing a line drop-out, or a player in possession can be forced over the sideline even when submitting to the tackle, forcing a scrum turn-over. But the Rules of Rugby League state ~ 11.2) A player in possession is tackled: (items a) & d) left out) b) When he is held by one or more opposing players in such a manner that he can make no further progress and cannot part with the ball. c) When, being held by an opponent, the tackled player makes it evident that he has succumbed to the tackle and wishes to be released in order to play-the-ball. * Why doesn't the NRL ensure that it's own game rules are applied? * Why are these rules continually ignored? * Why haven't coaches made the NRL aware of it?

How do referees determine intent? by reading minds?

Oikee, on the basis of your argument, perhaps eye gouging and kicking should be allowed. The ability to cause another player to be knocked out does not make you a man. And regarding NFL, have a look at lots of the former players..... brain damage, in wheel chairs in their early 30's , suicides, constant pain, addicted to drugs . My brother does massage, and was told by a former sports player, that they would give back every trophy and award that they had won , just to wake up one morning and be pain free. League is a tough game , but it also involves skill , and shoulder charges are dangerous, not skillful.

This whole issue has its genesis in the NRL being soft on head shots for many years. I still remember Spud Carroll copping a hit in origin that split his melon, but was not considered 'head high'. For a long time a tackle was only head high if there was 'intent'. If the tackle slipped up, hit the chest or shoulder first, or the tackled player was falling, everything was sweet. If the NRL had taken a zero tolerance approach to head high tackles, than the shoulder charge would not need to be banned.

Oikee sometimes it is actually astounding the stuff you come out with, you've got misinformed down to a fine art.

Let them go, little Johnny and little Jimmy are whoosses. Let's get fair dinkum. Now think about this boys, you need to be damm good to play at the top level. If we start worrying about little Jimmy or Johhny too much, we might as well buy shares in the cotton wool factory and Johnsons bandaids. Poor little petals. This is not Squash or Swimming, AFL or Soccer, this is damm hardcore rip your head off because i am paying big money to see you do your best. If little Jimmy wants to try his luck amounst 2 x 250 pound gorilla's and not get his head taken clean off, then i admire Jimmy. But we are not here to cater to 10 pound weaklings or 7 foot stick insects. Origin players need to be paid 200 thousand a game. Each. Lets sort out the chickens from the bantem roosters. If Folau got paid millions for doing nothing, it is about time rugby league rose to the top, and if little Jimmy and Johnny get in our way, lets eat them alive, throw them to the lions. Gloves are coming off Scott. Lets bring it on and rise to the top. The rest can rise with us or be left behind. Thjere is no place in Australian sport for little Jimmy's and Johnny's who need mommy to hold their hands, the world does not work like that anymore. Next you will have us wearing pads, and nappies. :) Another place where your arguement falls apart is NFL, most popular American sport yet the hardest hardcore , yet little Jimmy is still going.

Not to mention the dredded video ref, OMG. Stop the play, high tackle high tackle. Have a look at that Sterlo, did it come off his shoulder or his arams. ???? OMG. This is going to be the biggest dogs breakfast in rugby league history. Stoppages every second hitup. A player hits the deck,,, stoppage. A player gets a blood nose, stoppage. Mate, i wonder if tiddleywinks is starting up next year, it would be a harder game to play. Even squash has more big hits.

Hold on, so i am allowed to use my shoulders in a tackle as long as i use my arms. ?? No benifit of the dioubt involved Mals.? You sure, what happens if i clip his lugs while useing my arms, ? hold on, what about if my arms were coming up just after i clipped him around the lugs. ????? You had enough or you want more. That is just a tiny interpretation, what about if he runs into my shoulder, what if he is falling and lands on my knee then rebounds off the grassy knoll and comes back and takes out my shoulder. Oh Mals, your a funny bloke sometimes, good luck sorting that one out,,, what excited me even more is when Sterlo asks the question. "did the ball come off his Torso",,,, hehehe, Rabs,,,, i think it come off his arms. hahahha. Hey they might even ask the same question, did that hit come off his shoulder, or was it his arms. :) OMG. laughable. It will happen, wont take more than 2 rounds and you can think of me and that dreaded Torso rule, and the benifit of the doubt, because if you doubt it come off his hands then you have to give a "benifit of the doubt" ruling.. Which means the Benifit of the doubt is still in the game which in turn means the whole thing is still a "DOGS BREAKFAST". hahahhaa, ahahha,. roll on 2013, hahaha

Why is the "for 100+ years" some kind of defence? That's the kind of defence you throw up when you've got a whole lot of nothing in the justification kit bag.

Um looks pretty damn simple to me eagle jack – you use your arms it is a tackle right. You said wrapped his arms with the intent of actually tackling him where as a shoulder charge doesn’t actually have any chance of effecting a tackle as you either need to hold the person or place a hand on them whilst on the ground. The confusion for Pritchard will be on what type, if any, of high tackle should it be treated as. You know exactly like last year before this rule was in place. So even raising it is kind of ridiculous and just a distracting point that forms the basis of a chicken little like stance the author has fashioned out of thin air. Rugby seems to be able to manage with the different kind of tackle so either we are much dumber than they are or it isn’t all that tough.

Somehow i think they now have the money to buy advertising. But isn't a sad world where money talks. The media have been glowing of the AFL due to its revenues lining the pockets of media outlets. I read in the weekend paper a short review of Michael O'Louglin's new book and it said something along the llines "but there has been some controversy during his career where he was punched by his cousin at a party".hey what about Adelaide parklands? This had the same outcome as the Bulldogs in Coffs except the Bulldogs didn't pay money to the alledged victim. However, the media never mention this when mentioning O'Louglin. They do the Bulldogs as though they are guilty.

Luke, There is a wider more strategic picture. The MUMS! When a mum watches a shoulder charge gone wrong on TV, she tells her "little Jimmy" that he must play soccer or even AFL, who are smart enough to make all tackles under the chest. No parent wants to see their kid shoulder charged in the head like Dean Young was. It is a bad look and should be outlawed. Dont under estimate the power of the muns.