Shoulder charge bans wrong way for player safety
The NRL’s crusade against the shoulder charge reached new levels over the weekend with five players slapped with bans for use of the shoulder. Yet some shots barely caused a ripple.
Rugby league is rightly concerned following the death of James Ackerman from a shoulder charge in the Intrust Super Cup but bringing a hardline stance is misguided and unlikely to have the desired impact.
Most players who were charged on the weekend did little but execute a tackle without going through the pretence of lifting their arms. Defenders need to be able to defend and if a shoulder charge can be executed safely then it is an option that should be available.
The NRL should be far more concerned about vicious swinging arms and dangerous tackles that go unchecked or underpunished as they have in recent weeks when Leeson Ah Mau and Blake Austin remarkably escaped suspension for two very dubious incidents. In the former, Ah Mau whacked Kade Snowden so hard with a swinging high shot that Snowden missed nearly two full matches. Ah Mau was not charged.
The League – rightly – wants to stamp out dangerous play. Longer suspensions and reintroducing the practical use of the send off for contact to the head would be a much more appropriate and effective way than this kneejerk war against the shoulder.
Bunnies back
South Sydney’s premiership defence is well and truly alive with a line in the sand drawn in Townsville on Thursday night. The Bunnies were dominant in a 31-18 victory over a team that was favoured to win the minor premiership heading into the round.
The side was most reminiscent of the one that marched to the 2014 title. Kirisome Auva’a was welcomed back into the side for the first time this year. Adam Reynolds played the puppeteer as well as at any time in 2015. Greg Inglis played with serious intent. George and Tom Burgess aren’t in the same class as brother Sam but the latter provided his oomph with the ball.
No team has gone back-to-back since the Broncos – in ’98 if you recognise the Super League triumph, ’93 otherwise – and the Rabbitohs are playing with a target on their back and the heady weight that defending the crown entails. The competition though is wide open with the Roosters showing some ordinary signs of floating with the fairies in recent weeks, the Cowboys hitting a late-season hurdle and few truly believing in the Broncos despite their position atop the ladder.
Lichaa cooked
Bulldogs hooker Michael Lichaa’s season is over and so too in all likelihood are Canterbury’s hopes of providing a late-season rally from the bottom half of the eight.
Lichaa has been among the Bulldogs’ very best this season. He is a defensive rock with 47 tackles a game to go with less than two misses while he is one of just four rakes with 15 offloads and 20 tackle breaks this year, highlighting his underrated skills as an attacking player.
A fracture that will require surgery should ensure Lichaa is laid up for the remainder of the year. With Josh Reynolds out hurt, Damien Cook seems the most likely replacement. Cook has underwhelmed in four top grade matches to date and given the importance of hookers this year, the Bulldogs seems to be in a lot of strife.
No return flight for the Hayne Plane
Clubs who had banked on Jarryd Hayne returning to the NRL in 2016 will need to find new plans following Hayne’s debut for the San Francisco 49ers. The former Eel was at his brilliant best during his first NFL appearance, lighting up the social media world with a 53-yard run that suggested he can make a real fist of his American dream.
Such was the sparkling nature of his debut – that also included punt and kick return duties – that Niners coach Jim Tomasula has been forced to quieten expectations.
Speculation has been strong that the Sydney Roosters were ready to make a play for Hayne if he were to return following the departure of fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to the Warriors while Parramatta no doubt would have been of the belief if he returned to the NRL it would be as an Eel.
But with at least a practice squad position seemingly assured for Hayne, his NFL dream remains alive and those waiting for his return to Australia will need to make alternative arrangements.
The big sell
Regardless of results or crowd sizes, who is winning and who is losing, injuries and refereeing stuff-ups and all that goes with the great game of rugby league, the game is no doubt in very healthy shape with the NRL last week announcing a deal just short of $1 billion to sell free-to-air television rights to Nine.
With pay television, streaming and international deals still yet to be sorted, the NRL will reap $2 billion and the biggest windfall in Australian sporting history.
The drama and intrigue and athleticism and personalities of rugby league make it arguably the most valuable sporting commodity in Australian television. The game, for the first time in a century, seems to have got its finances in order and is reaping the rewards it richly deserves.
