The judiciary appear to generally agree with you, but there's 2 points of contention which makes this far less clear cut than you suggest.
Firstly, it's vague about whether it's an illegal play. 'Hip Drop' is not a term that appears in the NRL's book of rules that you referred to. It could be fit under the final line under Foul Play (after high tackles, shoulder charges, crusher tackles and dangerous throws are specifically named) which says 'Any other act of foul play which the referee deems to be of a serious nature'.
And that's fine, there's a reason that line is there. But it means there's no clear cut definition of what a 'hip drop' is, and what components it has. In a touch and go one like this, where the attacker is both contributing twisting momentum to the tackle and pushing the tackler around his body - it's very subjective about whether this is an illegal tackle.
Second point is that the injury sustained should impact on the penalty. This is not the stated goal of the process. They are supposed to penalise based on the risk of the action. A 'coathanger' style high tackle lined up from 10m away should see someone sitting on the bench for a long time, regardless of whether the player gets up and plays on, or the injury ends their career.
But the idea that they 'missed' the Papenhuyzen tackle is also based on the injury. They didn't miss it, he got sent off and suspended for 5 matches, which was a fairly high penalty comparatively for the type of tackle that it was.
It's only in hindsight, when Paps was unfortunately out for a big chunk of the year due to the injury, that we say Fuimaono got away with something. If Papenhuyzen was unhurt, or played the next game, then there's no story.
That’s the latest form of the Cumberland throw. Dangerous and a bad habit. These guys need to be taught how to tackle around the legs not with the legs.
Tyrell: "Hey Haze, could you dash down the bottlo for us... ahh, never mind."
Haze: "Hey Tyrell, how many Dally M Points did you get last... ahh, never mind."
Tyrell's sister: "Knock it off while I cook these vegan lamb chops."
Tyrell piggybacks Haze out the door in a flat sprint.
Rugby league has a book of rules. The rules are designed to protect the participants from injury and unfair play. You can’t do certain things like deliberately tip a bloke on his head, head slam, clean a player out whilst in the air, kick a player or hip drop for instance. A player has had his season ended through an illegal play. Sorry but I have zero tolerance for players guilty of injuring players with something that is deemed contrary to the rules and causes significant injury to an opponent whether you think it’s accident or not. He knew what he was trying to do by the way he threw his weight across the lower legs IMO.
so that tackle warrants a grade 3 dangerous contact charge? I presume all hits in the head will be grade 2 or higher, given these are far more dangerous to a player's long term health than this tackle.
Well the line in the sand has been drawn. It's no longer about the rules... it's about the severity of the injury. I understand the basic and very superficial idea but going down this road will kill the sport.
The vast majority of so called "hip drop" tackles (which is nowhere in the Rugby League rule book by the way, you can drop that label on whatever tackle you want) result in no injury. This is short sighted overkill.
Players get hurt. You can always blame someone. What now, suspend them all?
I feel for Dunster big time but this is more about someone else. This has the lingering stink of Ryan Papenhuizen's concussion last year all over it. "We missed that one... we've been waiting to fix it... so now cop THIS."
Dangerous and petty precedent. Surely they need to appeal this.
KenW
Roar Rookie
The judiciary appear to generally agree with you, but there's 2 points of contention which makes this far less clear cut than you suggest. Firstly, it's vague about whether it's an illegal play. 'Hip Drop' is not a term that appears in the NRL's book of rules that you referred to. It could be fit under the final line under Foul Play (after high tackles, shoulder charges, crusher tackles and dangerous throws are specifically named) which says 'Any other act of foul play which the referee deems to be of a serious nature'. And that's fine, there's a reason that line is there. But it means there's no clear cut definition of what a 'hip drop' is, and what components it has. In a touch and go one like this, where the attacker is both contributing twisting momentum to the tackle and pushing the tackler around his body - it's very subjective about whether this is an illegal tackle. Second point is that the injury sustained should impact on the penalty. This is not the stated goal of the process. They are supposed to penalise based on the risk of the action. A 'coathanger' style high tackle lined up from 10m away should see someone sitting on the bench for a long time, regardless of whether the player gets up and plays on, or the injury ends their career.
KenW
Roar Rookie
But the idea that they 'missed' the Papenhuyzen tackle is also based on the injury. They didn't miss it, he got sent off and suspended for 5 matches, which was a fairly high penalty comparatively for the type of tackle that it was. It's only in hindsight, when Paps was unfortunately out for a big chunk of the year due to the injury, that we say Fuimaono got away with something. If Papenhuyzen was unhurt, or played the next game, then there's no story.
Adam
Roar Guru
That's the way I see it.
Succhi
Roar Rookie
That’s the latest form of the Cumberland throw. Dangerous and a bad habit. These guys need to be taught how to tackle around the legs not with the legs.
BBQs Maloney
Guest
Tyrell: "Hey Haze, could you dash down the bottlo for us... ahh, never mind." Haze: "Hey Tyrell, how many Dally M Points did you get last... ahh, never mind." Tyrell's sister: "Knock it off while I cook these vegan lamb chops." Tyrell piggybacks Haze out the door in a flat sprint.
JGK
Roar Guru
Apparently Haze is dating Tyrell’s sister. That’s going to make for some awkward family BBQs.
Rob
Guest
Rugby league has a book of rules. The rules are designed to protect the participants from injury and unfair play. You can’t do certain things like deliberately tip a bloke on his head, head slam, clean a player out whilst in the air, kick a player or hip drop for instance. A player has had his season ended through an illegal play. Sorry but I have zero tolerance for players guilty of injuring players with something that is deemed contrary to the rules and causes significant injury to an opponent whether you think it’s accident or not. He knew what he was trying to do by the way he threw his weight across the lower legs IMO.
Paul
Roar Guru
so that tackle warrants a grade 3 dangerous contact charge? I presume all hits in the head will be grade 2 or higher, given these are far more dangerous to a player's long term health than this tackle.
Yeah nah
Guest
Well the line in the sand has been drawn. It's no longer about the rules... it's about the severity of the injury. I understand the basic and very superficial idea but going down this road will kill the sport. The vast majority of so called "hip drop" tackles (which is nowhere in the Rugby League rule book by the way, you can drop that label on whatever tackle you want) result in no injury. This is short sighted overkill. Players get hurt. You can always blame someone. What now, suspend them all? I feel for Dunster big time but this is more about someone else. This has the lingering stink of Ryan Papenhuizen's concussion last year all over it. "We missed that one... we've been waiting to fix it... so now cop THIS." Dangerous and petty precedent. Surely they need to appeal this.