NRL rules out banning lifting tackles

By Daniel Lane
Updated April 18 2014 - 2:13am, first published April 16 2014 - 6:17pm
The consequnces: The infamous spear tackle on Alex McKinnon. Photo: Fox Sports
The consequnces: The infamous spear tackle on Alex McKinnon. Photo: Fox Sports

The NRL has fallen short of banning lifting tackles, but warned any player involved in a dangerous tackle from this weekend risked being charged under the latest reform to player safety.

The NRL's head of football, Todd Greenberg, said after being "unhappy"  that numerous tackles had escaped punishment in the opening six rounds of the season, the match review panel had been instructed to charge - "irrelevent of the outcome" - players who placed a ball-carrier in a position where his head or neck could come in contact with the ground.

The NRL sent a memo to all clubs on Wednesday which defined - or re-emphasised - a dangerous position, when it said: "A dangerous position is where the head or neck of the tackled player dips below the horizontal level of the hips - and it is not immediately corrected."

Greenberg warned any defender involved in a dangerous tackle, regardless of whether they were the first, second or third man in, also risked being charged, even if their opponent escaped injury.

"If a player is coming down from a dangerous position and, by luck, he puts his forearm down or  rolls out of a tackle, that's not an excuse to get out of a charge," he said. "Players need to be aware the onus of responsibility is on them."

While Greenberg would not discus specific tackles, it's probable, that under the enforcement of the order, Melbourne's  Bromwich brothers - Jesse and Kenny - would have been charged alongside Jordan McLean for the tackle in which Newcastle forward Alex McKinnon suffered a spinal injury.

Asked whether the two defenders who go for the top of an opponent now faced being charged, Greenberg said: "They can be under the rules. If they have been part of a lifting tackle and they've contributed to put that player into the dangerous position, they can be charged too.

"It will depend on tackle by tackle. I don't want to talk about individual tackles, but what I will say is if there's a dangerous position applied to a player that all three or all two have contributed to, they can be charged." 

While the McKinnon tackle created a call for lifting tackles to be outlawed, Greenberg said it was impractical to put a blanket ban on them, as the NRL had on shoulder charges.

"Lifting tackles in the game are here to stay," he said. "There are lots of lifting tackles in the game that are very safe - we're talking about dangerous lifting tackles and players being put in a dangerous position. If players are put in dangerous positions, irrelevant of the outcome [the defenders] can expect a charge.

"A lot of people over the last few weeks have called for things like banning three-man tackles, that's not the answer. A lot of people have asked for other rule changes in the game, that's not the answer. The answer is not to put players in a dangerous position in a lift."

Greenberg insisted the edict, which followed the recently introduced concussion rule, should not be interpreted as a sign the match review committee were not doing their jobs or minimising the risk of future litigation as a result of dangerous tackles.

 

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