Protecting the Player and Duty of Care

[Bringbackbaa]

Great post & stream of comments. Have been thinking the same for some time now. If the NRL is going to take concussion seriously then dismissing this as “just part of the game” and it “was accidental” will lead to the death of our game. Just because a club legend in James Graham did it in a GF doesn’t validate it. If you look at the direction rugby is taking with ensuring impact below the sternum and contrast it to our stance and acceptance of accidental head knocks we are worlds apart. Surely the responsibility is on the defender to get his tackle right & yes for player safety and duty of care the game has put measure in place to protect the ball carrier at all times

 

[Dyldog]

Nate Miles purposely used his fat head as a weapon when tackling, then Gal purposely used his fists to destroy that fat head.

 

[wendog33]

Who determines if it's an accident (or not).

Take out the discretion and rule that any contact with the head is penalised. Same as arms to head tackles.

 

[Bringbackbaa]

100% mate. How is it fair that a team loses a player for the rest of the game and the offending team is not penalised at all??

 

[Brian Boru]

Yes and now there's more players crashing into each other in a melee of players contesting for the ball.

A sidelight to the collision, when watching the replay on FOX You will see that he held onto the ball while going down and a Shark player Teig Wilton slapped the ball from his grip while other players were involved in the tackle.
It was never questioned because the injury was being looked at.

Who knows, a Bulldogs penalty then would have changed the course of the game. For better or worse.

 

[wendog33]

A sidelight to the collision, when watching the replay on FOX You will see that he held onto the ball while going down and a Shark player Teig Wilton slapped the ball from his grip while other players were involved in the tackle.
It was never questioned because the injury was being looked at.

Who knows, a Bulldogs penalty then would have changed the course of the game. For better or worse.

Good you pointed that out. Sharks are ruthless bar$tard$ who don't get caught.

 

[dogluva]

Yes and now there's more players crashing into each other in a melee of players contesting for the ball.

Yep.

 

[King Gus]

Yep - same as if the Kikau disallowed try thing happened to the Sharks - that’d be fair game on TK

But it was a try, now confirmed

 

[NPC83]

But it was a try, now confirmed

I hate when the refs bosses do that. Just annoys everyone afterwards when you can’t change the result

 

[DinkumDog]

But it was a try, now confirmed

Of course it was a try, it was always a try.
What I was saying was on TK when it was ‘no try’ there’s hell to pay but if it happened to the other team it would be OK. You know, the whole one eyed thing .

 

[Philistine]

Who determines if it's an accident (or not).

Take out the discretion and rule that any contact with the head is penalised. Same as arms to head tackles.

Nu Brown was sent off (red card not yellow) for accidental contact to the head in a super league match a couple of weeks ago. The commentators blew up about it, but the explanation was that, although it was accidental (and nobody got hurt), Brown didn't take enough trouble to avoid the contact. Where ESL goes today the NRL goes tomorrow.

 

[KLil]

It was an unfortunate play but nothing can be done about it. We had lots to complain about with the Kikau no try, the Mutilano try, Taaffe getting taken out mid air, Kikau called for a high shot when there was no contact etc. But this incident isn't on that list in my opinion..

Add the Inconclusive captains challenge which could have been used on numerous other occasions.

 

[True Blue]

I think with "kick off's", the days are numbered. If the NRL is serious about minimising concussion, then they will look to change how we restart play. The guy taking the ball up is on a hiding to nothing. They might look at Rugby and make the restart a drop out (at least this would make each restart more of a contest) or an optional tap on the 20m.
I agree with the guy who posted this thread. There was serious contact with the head (accident or not), it should have been a penalty as a minimum.

Agree. If the NRL are serious about protecting players against concussions, then they must start to police these types of tackles....it is nothing against McInnes, but simply the tackling style when there is already two defenders bringing the attacking player down. Hansta makes the comment that James Graham did it all the time and again I agree......but even Graham admits to the fact that he now suffers from those impacts. Just listen to his speech patterns.........and not because he is a Pom......What happened in the past should make us aware of the dangerous consequences and the actions needed to prevent it from continuing to happen. It doesn't have to be deliberate, but it can be prevented by not putting yourself in that position.

 

[King Gus]

Of course it was a try, it was always a try.
What I was saying was on TK when it was ‘no try’ there’s hell to pay but if it happened to the other team it would be OK. You know, the whole one eyed thing .

Human nature I guess lol

 

[King Gus]

I hate when the refs bosses do that. Just annoys everyone afterwards when you can’t change the result

So true why can’t they put the ref boss in the bunker lol

 

[Cook]

It’s an interesting topic. I love the collision in our game, and loved it whilst playing. Yet I now share the belief that these type of situations need to be penalised against. I’d leave it as a penalty if deemed accidental, don’t feel suspension is warranted at present. Will also allow for potential 18th player activation.

 

[DinkumDog]

Human nature I guess lol

TK nature definitely .

 

[True Blue]

It further annoys me that when a kick is put up, in most cases at least two of the kicking side come into challenge the receiving player for the ball. No problems with a genuine one on one tussle, but I believe that in most cases the second player is there to impede the actual receiving player and should be policed with penalty if appropriate. This constantly occurs with the receiving player already in the air.

 

[Cook]

Great call @True Blue. U seen it coming

 

[T-Rocket]

Interesting to see the penalty applied for duty of care with the may/walsh head clash in the riff game tonight.


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