Why Burgess escaping suspension is a disgraceful mistake

compare it to kake t;s tackle...which had more potential for injury.it;s not the outcome but the process that is to be judged...and by history it was a low level careless hit..deserving of grade 1 but not higher

Barry, have you actually seen the footage. The initial contact was high, his arm didn't come of the ball, it went above the ball & hit the neck, then the head. The charge was a joke, it wasn't careless, it was at best reckless but in reality it was a dangerous tackle. How long before someone loses their career or worse because the sport seems more interested in the spectacle rather than the welfare of the players.

I thought the accepted fact was the shot was high and around the neck and hence the fine and not time off. If Burgess was guilty of what the hysteria is about then he'd have more time off. That's the fact. Which is all I've really said from the beginning, so the aggro about my comments is lost on me. And can't see how I'm accused of shaming when I'm expressing concern about a player's well being as same as anyone said about Keary.

Good for you. What you fail to realise is that Moylan was concussed by an illegal act. Hence why Burgess was charged. The fact that others have not been concussed is quite frankly, irrelevant. Or lucky. Not all pedestrians die when they are hit by a car either. It doesn't make the act less illegal. It doesn't make the victim any tougher than others. Keary has a concussion issue... and that's irrespective of whether he's been taken high illegally. Moylan copped an illegal shot. That's fact. That's a fact affirmed by Sam Burgess who plead guilty. It's irrefutable. And because of that, your comments re: Moylan is victim shaming and a denial of accepted fact.

Cool, now let's see you make that same comment to everybody that questioned Keary's continued involvement in league. And there's a lot. And BTW I've seen a lot more people get hit harder without the same effect.

"most of the time' - except for the part where Sam's forearm crashes into Moylan's jaw

Not everyone is going to be reacting in the same way with a head injury. Think of a drunk that is totally intoxicated saying nothing and walking slowly and straight then a drunk who is carrying on like a pork chop and staggering. Both could have the same level of intoxication but behave very differently. Ask a doctor, people suffering brain trauma can have a myriad of symptoms. As TB has stated.

Yes, you are. Moylan got clobbered by a swinging arm that likely would have concussed anyone and you've flicked the blame to Moylan. It's total victim blaming.

If you think that Sam hit Moylan on the shoulder and that was what knocked Moylan unconscious maybe you should rethink your involvement in this discussion DP.

TBH I was surprised the tackle was deemed to be 'careless' rather than 'reckless', he tracked him across the field and had every opportunity to make a legitimate tackle, he could have absolutely creamed him by hitting him at chest height - could've been one of the biggest hits of the year but he chose instead to go over the shoulder and should have been charged accordingly.

Sam's forearm clearly whacks him across the jaw, this is likely what knocked him unconscious. Even if his upper arm makes contact with Moylan's neck before the forearm hits the jaw (unlikely as Sam's arm was bent), he still failed to avoid attacking the head and should have been subject to a harsher penalty than he has managed to escape with. Sam tracked him across the field and as Moylan straightened into the line Sam had the option of tackling him anywhere from the upper arm down to his ankles, instead he went above the shoulder and inflicted an injury that sees Moylan sitting out for his own health. Good on Sam's defence for getting him off but the judiciary is a disgrace - every time they use previous examples of poorly penalised foul play to justify reducing penalties for current indiscretions they make it less likely that this sort of thing is adequately penalised in future.

Dp Schaefer I dont know what your watching but he was concussed with a swinging arm , more the forearm an bicep connected with neck an chin , it’s plain as day an u don’t see it ?wow

No my comment is this whole “ intent “ argument in rugby league , it shoudnt matter what the “intent “ was because it offers a excuse to lawyers and players ...” oh it wasn’t my intention to knock him out your honour “,the only person who knows wether they meant to or not is the person charged an he will never be dumb enough to admit if he really had meant too , it should be based on wether the end result of that tackle went wrong , because the onus can only be on the tackling player to not deliberately or intentionally illegally hurt the opposing player .

Hmm and I thought I had an original thought... :)

No victim blaming. I didn't hear anyone accused of that when it was suggested that Keary should rethink playing if he was getting concussion that often.

Jumped on him a poor use of words. Sam left the ground and brought his weight down on Moylan, dragging him down, like back pack gone wrong. Reckless no doubt, never argued. My point with all this has been that the MRC didn't get it that wrong and the criticism is a bit over the top.

For most of the time - you can see all Moylan's head clearly, arm is around the neck. High yes and careless but the hit seems more on the shoulder. I'm more surprised he didn't have shoulder damage.

I might be missing something, but the force seemed more the impact on the shoulder and neck. Isn't that what the ruling was?

Crosscoder attacks NRL - are my eyes deceiving me oh its aSharks player but he was concussed before he hit the ground.

I completely understand you where explaining the way the grading works and how they reached their decision. The head hitting stuff is really not necessary especially considering everything we are being told about the consequences. Defending from front on you can be forgiven for avoiding knees or elbows and maybe collecting blokes high if they step or drop their body height before contact. What Sam did was hit Moylan as hard and high as possible because he new Moylan was looking straight ahead IMO. Blind siding blokes is a free shot hitting them high should get you suspended. He could still pull off a big shot and rattle Moylan’s ribs just as easily. He choose to target the top of the shoulders and head IMO.