i say ban clubs from having wrestling coaches who teach them this
I think you've watched a little too much WWF if you think wrestling coaches educate players on the techniques of dropping a shoulder into another bloke.
To remove the shoulder charge altogether from Rugby League would be detrimental to the sport. Its a spectacle of the game and a real skill when performed correctly on a consistent basis ala Sonny Bill Williams.
I have nothing wrong with Riley Brown's shot on Craig Wing from round 1 because, like it or not, it breaks no written rules. I'm not really interested in any other arguing points like whether or not it was a dog hit or anything; it swung momentum in the Rooster's direction and went a long way to winning them the game. Whether you agree with the spirit it was performed in or not you've got to like the win at all costs mentality.
Like the majority of things in our game (and probably most others for that matter) its not as simple as saying "the next bloke to do a similar tackle (prowler) will be sidelined."
As Ben Ross said he's copped 1000's of shots like that, as have many other players, none of which ended up with a serious injury like Wing; which means they're obviously not so similar after all.
So this means we need a clear definition of a 'prowler tackle' and some key indicators as to the defending player's intent. To simply ban anyone but the first tackler coming in with a shoulder will be chaos. How often do you see 2 tacklers hitting almost simultaneously, with one laying in a shoulder? Plenty. And they're damn good hits too, but rarely does anyone get hurt, and to penalise it would be ridiculous. Or what if the first tackler hits low around the mid section with a bloke over the top with a shoulder? Another widely used tactic and the game would be lesser for it if it were outlawed. Another scenario would be when a bloke is held up in the process of scoring a try out wide by 2 or 3 blokes and the full back comes across with a shoulder barge to bundle the attacker into touch.
This is just off the cuff so I could be way off. But back to the key indicators of a 'prowler' some things to look at could be:
- How late the 'prowler' comes in.
- Whether the 'prower' looks to target a vulnerable exposed area of the ball carrier.
- The current momentum of the ball carrier; i.e. is the ball carrier still making progress in the tack; is the ball carrier looking to get away an off-load. (This would obviously involve something about the referee's 'held' calls)
- Not quiet sure how to word this one but something to take into consideration what the initial tacklers are attempting to do in the tackle (move the attacker backwards, bring him to the ground, roll him over, move him towards touch) and whether the 'prowler's action is inline with that or not.
Its obviously a tricky one that won't be solved overnight. Just within this thread we can't even agree whether there is anything to be solved, so give the NRL a bit of time and hopefully they'll get it right at the end of the day.
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