So the Australian Rugby League Commission has decided to ban
the shoulder charge after Brian Canavan’s extensive report and many
recommendations from NRL doctors, including the highly respected Nathan Gibbs
and John Orchard.
With all the crazy class-action and legal cases in the NFL,
the ARLC has definitely had duty of care and legal responsibilities in mind
even before the report was submitted. But it seems a very quick, knee-jerk,
reactive decision made by commission, or a very pro-active decision for the
future.
Why didn’t they try and reduce the interchange or have 12
week bans for contact with the head? All the players are in support of heavy
suspensions if it is carried out wrong.
They’ve banned basically everything in the tackle. It’s
become: run the ball up, get caressed by 2 defensemen, 1 around the hips, 1
around the torso, lie down.
The NRL announced in its strategic plan to be the ‘most
entertaining’ game in Australia. How on earth does banning the one thing, the ‘one’
thing, rugby league has over its football competitors go about achieving such a
goal? The collision is the part of the game that makes it different from its
competitors, it’s the exciting, exploding, edge of your seat play that makes
you cringe, squirm, scream and cheer. Nothing can turn over momentum more than
a big shoulder charge or tackle. Every single highlight reel for the past 10 years
would have included numerous shoulder charges.
With the pressure the referees have been under in the last
couple of years and the current restructure of the NRL referee’s system, the
shoulder charge is only going to confuse the officials more. How will they
consistently identify a ‘shoulder charge’? What will be the indicators? If
Chris Sandow runs into James Tamou’s hip with his shoulder cocked, will he be
suspended?
The most disappointing part of the shoulder charge being
banned is, in the last 5 years that the shoulder charge has become so big, the
man who carries it out the best, hasn’t been able to play rugby league. How
disappointing that the year he returns to the NRL, they ban it. Sonny Bill
Williams played a huge part in the establishment of the modern day shoulder charge.
He was the best at it. There was nothing better than seeing the genetically-blessed
Williams slam the shoulder into an opponent in slow motion replays or
bass-assisted highlight reels. His former shoulder charges were sure to have
been featured in 2013’s advertisements and previews.
The statistics provided from the report indicate, 5 out of
every 10,000 tackles are shoulder charge attempts. From them five, 1 out of
every 6 makes contact with the head. 2011 saw some bad shoulder charges and a
couple of broken jaws, but injuries have been occurring since 1908. This is
best part of the game! No one wants to see the game played with skirts on.
It will be interesting to see how the ‘most entertaining’
game of all entertains us without the shoulder charge. For God’s sake I hope
they conduct a review.
And another thing that has pissed me off, why was the
decision sent out at night via e-mail to the media? Where is John Grant to face
the music? Probably sitting back having a beer at a post-game function with
Prince Charles presenting a trophy while having his Maserati washed.