Planet Rugby Forum

They still applaud high shots in that game, don't they? I would get out too

Enzedder wrote:They still applaud high shots in that game, don't they? I would get out too

Pretty much. The big hits of yesteryear that resulted in players having scrambled eggs for brains are looked back fondly by many fans. Nothing gets an NRL commentator all frothy than a HO HO HO THAT'S A BIG HIT YES INDEED HE DIDN'T MISS. Same bunch of blokes who want to bring back the biff and let players punch on.

They've cut out the shoulder charge which required little skill and they've cracked down somewhat on tackles that slide up onto the face but there's still a lot of contact with the head. The big issue, and I guess it could be the same for our game, are doctors who send players back on after an "HIA" which is less about assessing an injury and more about getting a player back out onto the field.

The existential problem for league is that they've reduced it to a gladiatorial contest, where the big collisions etc is the main point.

They couldn't remove big hits if they tried.

High tackles are frequent in every game. As are quasi shoulder charges.

shanky wrote:The existential problem for league is that they've reduced it to a gladiatorial contest, where the big collisions etc is the main point.

They couldn't remove big hits if they tried.

High tackles are frequent in every game. As are quasi shoulder charges.

To a largish extent, RL has painted itself into this specific corner by dint of cumulative, simplifying changes in the laws and in the way matchplay works in practice (e.g. competitive scrums aren’t ruled out, but scrums aren’t refereed in a way that forces a contest).

In today’s RL, the team in possession does not have to worry about losing a contested play-the-ball or about retiring the same distance from the ruck as the defending team or, generally speaking, about losing a scrum where that team has the feed. Defensive strategies for countering this based on slowing down the play the ball (holding the ball-carrier up, flopping, wrestling etc) have themselves been countered by more changes in the laws or in how they are officiated.

Where the Strayan game is at right now, unless a defence is brutally effective at halting the ball-carrier‘s progress at first contact, it is all too easy for the team in possession to march most of the way to the opposition’s tryline in just five tackles.

This would be so even if the shrieking morons of channel nein ceased to applaud tackles that, even under today’s RL LOTG, should have no place in the game.

I agree MM

The changes they've made in the name of speeding the game up and making it more TV friendly, have taken away most nuance and ball skills. When they moved the offside back 10m they turned it into a collision sport

They've also created a situation in which they have further to fall as a sport (compared to RU). Whereas RU has steadily brought in safety measures (headbin, high tackle enforcement), League (like you say) has paid lip-service to those things

in the event that legislation ever comes along about eliminating head-knocks, then where can they go?
RU will be able to adapt and move on because (a) most of these rules are already in the game of RU and (b) because the game has other features of interest and skill and isn't solely reliant on big hits for entertainment

As they say, RL is more fun to watch but RU is more fun to play

RL is just boring. For me it has too many players on the field because the size and fitness of the players covering greater ground. It should be 12 or 11 aside.