Canberra coach Ricky Stuart said to the media on Thursday that it will be up to the refs this week to decide if the if we would see a good open game from all four finals teams, or if they would be played in an Octagon.
It’s no secret that there have been teams that have hired wrestling or Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ) coaches to show them techniques in attempt to slow down the play the ball and halt the oppositions momentum.
The Melbourne Storm have been the most successful team to employ the tactics but the they have again come under scrutiny with the Cowboys lodging a complaint. Second rower Ethan Lowe’s season was ended with a spinal injury and three other Cowboys players had mentioned that they had neck injuries.
Nothing came of the complaints from the Cowboys as the NRL felt the Storm had nothing to answer too.
A man that is more than qualified to tackle this subject is Australian UFC fighter Robert Whittaker.
Whittaker (a Rabbitohs fan) was on Fox Sports news to announce his upcoming fight with Derek Brunson when the UFC return to Australia in November when he was asked about wrestling in the NRL.
“I look at what they do, I watch the game on weekends and they’re not wrestling they’re not grappling. They’re playing football”.
Whittaker is right to some extent, it’s not wrestling or grappling in the mixed martial arts sense but the wrestling moves are very effective and moves can be tweaked to make them effective in rugby league.
While we won’t be seeing any triangle chokes or any armbars on the football field this weekend or in future games, it does seem that the need for wrestling to be taught to give teams an advantage will stay.
Martin Millard
Roar Pro
I agree. I reckon drop it again next year, the big boys can't wrestle when they are knackered
MAX
Guest
FOUR SECONDS OF SUSPENSE Tony Archer has indicated that tacklers have four (4) seconds to clear themselves from the ruck and this will be the standard for the weekend. One, one hundred; two, two hundred.... Some seconds will last longer than others. At last we have consistency! Well, maybe.
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
Plus 1000. I hate watching the Storm. They are dire, boring and I wince every time I watch them grab another player around the neck. I wouldn't doubt that the Cowboys have neck injuries, the Storm have a neck fetish and can't help themselves. I agree with MOC that the refs should do their job and penalise any player that grabs around the neck area. If that means my team get penalised, I don't care. I want to see Moylan throw a glorious, swooping cut out pass to a winger. I want to see BJ Leilua throwing round the back passes and swatting would be tacklers like flies, I want to see Vunivalu (the irony that he is a Storm player isn't lost on me) running in the open with that graceful style of his. I don't want to see four Storm players grappling on the ground with a player for 30 seconds, with the fourth player joining just at the right time so not to be deemed a flop, Smith holding the players neck and another player clamped on the ball and two others entwined like a scene from Caligula. Finally for the ref to call held and the Storm players saying "honest ref we are trying hard to get disentangled" and getting up so slowly, their pulse rate drops. Meanwhile, glaciers have formed in the Arctic, share prices have fallen on Wall Street and Italy has a new government. I admire the Storm's professionalism and development of young players, they are a credit to the game. But the way they wrestle, Bellamy (clearly a great coach, but he cares nothing for the game, only to win) and the Storm should just feck off and go and play Union, they would fit right in with all that ruck and maul crap.
andrew
Guest
Fish; Chechin officiated Raiders v Sharks and it was awful. Given the difference in the 10m he administered between the two games, i think he got told to fix that element of his game, which he did and it was a benefit to the fans. It had nothing to do with "wrestling" I think wrestling in league is about 10% real and about 90% BS. Players make tackles and try to hold the play up on his feet then drop him just as the ref says held to slow him down. or they get a guy to ground and position their body to allow them time to get up slower or to stop the ball carrier landing on his knees (so he can get up quickly). It's not wrestling. The game is slowed down more by players in possession holding the defenders to them to try and draw a penalty. I think one of the biggest black spots on the game isn't wrestling, it is people whinging about it.
Mike from tari
Guest
The referees can control every tackle if they want to, doesn't matter if they wrestle or not by calling held once, whether they have 1,2 or 3 in the tackle or are waltzing the tackled player around, for some reason the referees don't want to give penalties & they don't want to change their system now but I blame Bill Harrigan for allowing the wrestling to come in because of his reluctance to penalise, he seemed to have this thing about minimising penalties in a game.
Fish
Guest
Watching how Cechin and Shortall officiated the Cowboys Broncos game, I think the Storm have a problem. Cechin, along with Maxwell, and Kline have been sticklers for penalising the overworking of players. If you want a fast flowing entertaining game of League then these three are who you want to officiate. Not that they are without their own shortfalls. The Sharks v Cowboys game is most at risk at deteriorating into a wrestling match. Once I saw who was refereeing this game my heart sunk for the Cowboys. I think they can still win, but boy will it be tough. Their style just does not suit an abbreviated ten meters and four man orgies on the ground. I don't care who makes the big one, but what I am passionate about is taking Rugby League back to when it was actually Rugby League. Too many people are involved at the decision making end, that have no clue to what this game was, is, and should be. Love him or hate him, at least Gould has true passion for this game. That is even something I have to give him credit for. Lets get the wrestle gone for good. Two man tackles should do the job.
M.O.C.
Roar Guru
Maybe if the refs actually followed the rules of the game which state there is to be no contact with the head or neck, there would not be a debate on this topic at all.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Maybe the refs that are assigned to the ruck need to have the same martial arts training so they can recognise the holds and moves. They could also throw a quick sleeper hold on Smith when he starts complaining...
Squidward
Roar Rookie
Why have we forgotten. Because we've cried about it for a decade now without any change, and have come to accept it as a blight for good now
Andréa Mandadakis
Roar Guru
I think with the reduced interchange there has been less wrestling in the game which is great. Even as a Rabbitohs fan, seeing the team dominate the competition when they did with a gameplan based off slowing down the ruck was kind of boring and off-putting. It's much better when teams are running around with the ball and actually playing footy. Onto this weekend, I have a bad feeling that the refs will let the Storm run amock with their usual bending of the rules. It's been happening since Bellamy's tenure started at the club and Cameron Smiths' golden child status as well as the 300th game for Cooper Cronk will only allow them to get away with more unfortunately. Cheering on the Green Machine and the Sharkies this weekend.