Then penalise every tackle that has the possibility of the head clash. But you’ll have to penalise what is right now 3/4 of every FRF hit up.

As soon as you go down this path it will be mayhem and completely change this game forever. You keep saying May’s tackle was reckless. But it was no more reckless than 100 other tackles per game that don’t end up with an accidental head clash. Two identical tackles and one has a change in circumstance after it’s too late to change the defensive decision? On gets penalised and one doesn’t? This is absurd. Either the attempt is illegal or it isn’t. The outcome (head clash or not) can’t be the thing that determines a penalty.

I’m sorry Baz but you can’t have a rule where the same attempt by two tacklers is penalised based on a head clash or lack of head clash. Just the same as you can’t have a rule where a player that gets inverted draws a penalty only if they land on their head. That means that we have to start penalising every tackle like the live referee said. They have a duty of care to bend their backs. That means a standard FRF hit up where the first tackler stays bolt upgright and wraps up the ball (like the 100 a game we see now) must also be penalised if we are serious about this. If you are as serious about CTE as what you say then you have to penalise both tackles.

I agree to a point on the May tackle. But there are 100 tackles a game where the tackler hits the ball runner “bolt upright” to wrap up the ball. Because they don’t result in an accidental head clash they aren’t penalised. If you want to bring in a “duty to bend your back” rule then that’s fine, but you will drastically change the game we are currently watching over night. You have to penalise the act not the result. We can’t have someone doing exactly the same tackle without the head clash, and it not getting penalised.

To Paul (author): On the Thompson-Pappy collision. Thompson had eyes for the ball the whole time. Does he not have a right to contest the ball and also stay on the ground? He was not tunnelling in and had Pappy not jumped he ball would have landed in his arms. At the point Pappy leaves the ground, Leo can no longer do anything about it, even if he had vision of Pappy. What is he meant to do? From what I’m reading the only answer is to assume the full back is going to jump and to jump also and put yourself in more danger.

If South’s and Manly keep Turbo and Latrell fit until at least deep in the season then I having them make the 8. A major injury for either of them earlier than the end of the origin period and I can see both of them missing the 8. Canberra won’t make the 8 and I think Parra on paper should finish ahead of the cowboys provided they aren’t heavily injury impacted. Sharks are shakey on depth too. They can’t have many and they come right back too.

But to be fair he’s brought them from being a dumpster fire into being a top 8 threat every year. Including a GF. He’s coached the only team to seem to be able to regularly beat the Panthers in the regular season. He does need some help though with regards to outside back recruitment. For years he persisted with Waqa, the worst defensive centre I’ve ever seen. Only to let Tom Opacic go and buy Uncle Fckn Bully? Wait what? Has he learned nothing here? Bailey Simmonson’s move to the centres started off scratchy but improved more in 3 games than Waqa did in 5 years. He’s solid in the 3/4 line. If Parra can’t sign or find a gun centre for the left side they need to stick to Bailey, need to find an Opacic type centre for depth and a quality winger. They should be calling Pauga from the roosters.

Can we get a quiet agreement among all sports writers that we won’t start talking about Lyon’s retirement until the end of 2028? 47 Wickets this year, spinners just seem to get better with age.

How is Warner a sook?

Changes nothing? He’s pasted through a very bowler friendly pitch in overcoats/rain conditions to score a quick 66 while in for Khawaja looked like he couldn’t buy a run. Same with Marnus when he came out. That innings has set up the middle order to do what they’ve done. Contrast the conditions and importance of Warner coming out first up against Green. Australia will win this test and break the will of the English, all beautifully set up on the back of Warner’s morning knock that shielded Marnus and Smith from the worst of it. He will finish this series for sure now baring injury.

So Haas and Max with grade two’s. I guess there’s no such thing as a grade 3 because Mam’s was a s text book as you can get 1on1.

Parramatta badly need a solid defensive centre to replace Waqa. It was dumb to let Opacic go. He doesn’t set the world on fire in attack but he does his job and is rarely found out in defence.

I think you’re being very generous when describing Josh Hodgson a solid performer. Every week he’s played he’s had glaring defensive lapses that are not of top grade standard. Last week Brendan hands had an 80minute performance that was in every way better than every stint that Hodgson has had this year. The sooner Athur bites the bullet and drops Hodgson to reggies the sooner Parramatta can turn it around. Also, Parramatta look so much better with Hopgood starting at 13 with Lane and Matterson on an edge. Cartwright is an excellent 14 but not in the same league as the other two on the edge.

Hands played better last week playing 80 than Hodgson has done playing half the game all year. If Parra are to keep this window open, it will take them developing him into the primary minute taker (preferably 80) at 9 sooner rather than later. Hodgson is a shadow of his former self.

There’s a solution to this question and it comes from a solution to the salary cap issues. Give players that come through a teams junior nursery, a salary cap discount of 5% (up tp a maximum of 40%) for every year they stay at their club. Those clubs that produce no talent will quickly wither on the vine and be forced to relocate to expansion areas where they will have to receive incentives to grow the game in non-traditional League heartland areas.

That 70 in the first test was sublime.

Do I have it correctly that this win ensures Australia are guaranteed a spot in the WTC Final.

To my eye, his new version of Handscomb is the best player of spin we have. I’d like to see him in a tour game ahead of the ashes. Uzzie is in the form of his life so is making up for his past poor form against spin in pretty good fashion.

Could we find Head opening the batting with Uzzie in the first game at Edgbaston?

He only needs one knock to be back and I expect it to come soon.

No one is mentioning Maxwell as a replacement captain. He’d be my pick

Talk of the IRL being the centre of gravity for growing International Rugby League and them having any power to grow the game internationally is really a moot point. The game revolves around money these days and the only way to grow the game internationally is to find ways for sponsorship funds to find their way to the second and third tier nations without harming the current established nations.

Rugby Leagues biggest threat to that happening is the already established entrenchment of Rugby Union in many of them. The NRL can have a big role to play in this. Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji would have more than enough talent to field competitive NRL sides if given half a chance. I think the first step is to acknowledge that some clubs currently in the NRL cannot be propped up going into the future. If they cannot sustain themselves financially they must be let fold and those licences given to pacific nations if they can find enough funding to establish adequate stadiums and facilities. A 10-11-12 million dollar salary cap for a pacific nation entering the NRL would already draw significant interest from young players that would currently only be looking at Union as a pathway. Now imagine Fiji, Tonga, Samoa were to all have sides in the competition and all of them were to have that level of salary cap provided from the TV rights deal. If it could be maintained it would have a seriously detrimental effect on rugby union as an international game.

While this outcome would also have an impact Northern hemisphere Union (and South Africa), super league would have to do something similar for Europe to bring about the emergence of Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Wales etc.

Lebanon is a really interesting one. They are a soccer mad country but they suck at soccer. Their current Rugby League achievements are already scores ahead of anything their soccer team has produced. With a huge diaspora, continued success could see the game grow there significantly.

I had no idea this rule existed. I always assumed that if a wicket came from a “free hit” that the ball was dead. This is how it should be.

It needs to be considered in a similar fashion to world rules pool. Upon giving away a foul the player isn’t actually awarded “2 shots” as it is sometimes locally interpreted. The foul in international rules is “two visits to the table”. So while in many places locally, if a player pots one or more balls on their first visit to the table, the penalty is lost. Where as in international rules, a player plays until they fail to pot a ball, then they get a second visit to the table. For cricket it needs to be seen as a second visit to the crease if dismissed by a ball on a “free hit”.

He had one decent run and still knocked on at the end of it. Two poor errors and a number of times out of position at the back. If game 1 was any indication Suali is miles away from being a top flight fullback.

Was going to say the same thing Herbie was immense when score were level and Samoa were looking to pound them in their own half. Herbie seemed to get a half break and quick play the ball and they were on the advance again.

Does he have 80 in his legs though? Are those legs going to be electric as they were in game 1 after 20 extra tackles in the first 30? I don’t think so.

There is one theme that has bothered me over the last couple of years and that is of the late season form of Mitchell Moses. I couldn’t put my finger on it until last year. Mitchell Moses is one of the top half backs in the competition……. in the first half of the season. One major change Arther had on him following some terrible defensive displays in his first half a season after a switch from the Tigers, was his defence. While he still misses a bit, it’s rarely because he’s refusing to put his head in a dangerous situation and put the effort in defence. I think this has lead to him carrying more bumps and bruises by half way through the season of being targeted by 2nd rowers. As a result his form drops away in the back half of a season.

The other concern is the spine. Mahoney, Moses, D Brown and Gutherson are one of the best in the comp. That is a spine, behind a pack consisting of Paulo, RCG, Matterson, Lane, Niukore and N Brown, that can win a comp. But all of the back up options for any of the spine are honestly second rate. Parra lose a single one of those 4 this year and they are shot. We saw that when Mahoney got injured last year. The Eels immediately went backwards. Arther Jnr is not a first grade half that can cut it in most club games, let alone going up against the halves that Penrith, Melbourne, South’s or even Manly will run out with.

Another concern is the edge defence. Especially on what ever side Waqa plays on. Too often Sivo/Simmonson are coming in on the edge when the inside man has it covered. There is no trust out wide. Though one positive is that Waqa has passed the ball a few times in the last month.

On the upside is that D-Bags is doing his half of the play maker duties this year which means defences can’t rely on 100% targeting of Moses. With Brown’s renewed form it also means Gutho is chiming in where the halves direct him, as opposed to demanding the ball and overplaying his hand as he has been guilty of over the past two years….. I think he’s playing busted though..

I still have hope, but a long term injury to any of the spine this year and I’ll put a line through them immediately.