Paul Kent opinion: Playmakers get all the advantages over rugby league’s big men

The crackdown on protecting playmakers in their battle with forwards has gone too far and PAUL KENT fears where it will end should the current trend continue.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 18: Jaydn Su'A of the Dragons is sent to the sin-bin by referee Chris Sutton for a late tackle on Sean O'Sullivan of the Panthers during the round two NRL match between the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Penrith Panthers at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on March 18, 2022, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

Once again, the wily old halves have outsmarted the gruff old forwards.

This crackdown on protecting the playmakers is going to upset the entire rugby league food chain.

The playmakers have won their war, at least as it currently stands. Whether it achieves the ultimate goal of goodness many are hoping for, though, remains to be seen.

As it stands it leans too much in favour of the playmakers.

Allowed to continue, who knows where it will end.

Jaydn Su'A heads to the sin bin and the game continues down a worrying path. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

Already at the moment some solid B-grade halves are looking like A-graders because they have the freedom to poke the defensive line without ramifications.

The tipping point was reached Friday when Penrith halfback Sean O’Sullivan took the ball to the line and St George Illawarra forward Jaydn Su’A knocked him down.

O’Sullivan was still in a passing motion when Su’A hit him. It was not late. It was not high.

It was shoulder on shoulder.

O’Sullivan went down and received treatment on his neck.

The referee deemed it not only a penalty but an offence worth 10 minutes in the sin bin as well.

And with that, the Dragons were done.

The natural balance is gone.

For years halves as great as Andrew Johns and Brad Fittler have argued playmakers need to be better protected.

They had a tremendous point.

It had got so out of control ball-players were passing the ball and taking two or three more steps before opposition hitmen were knocking them over.

In many cases they were relaxed and, ambushed from behind or the side, vulnerable.

Whiplash and other injuries were caused because they were unable to brace for the ambush.

It was a tactic designed to discourage ballplayers from playing late and into the line, which was for very good reason.

The later they play the more difficult it is for the defence to react to them.

The great ones like Johns and Fittler, and more lately Cooper Cronk and Johnathan Thurston, played late into the line and more often tore defences apart.

It was a signature of their greatness.

The only way defences could reduce their effectiveness was to give them a whack when they played late in a bid to discourage them from playing so late again.

And that is where there was a transaction.

Ballplayers could play late but the consequence of that was they put themselves in the firing line for a big shot. Buy the ticket, take the ride.

Johns and Fittler and Cronk and Thurston all knew the risk they were taking by paying so late but were prepared to do so anyway.

And they got the reward for it.

But you can take your Joey Johns and I will raise you a Gorden Tallis.

Whenever Tallis is asked about the hardest player he ever had to tackle he never settles for a rival big man but always nominates someone nippy and agile with fast feet.

Playmakers coming at him with speed and support.

The only way the big men like Tallis and others could discourage the playmakers from picking them out was to make sure they knew they were going to cop a whack for the troubles.

Playmakers like Johnathan Thurston fearlessly attacked the line, despite the threat of a big hit from opposition defences. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England

Which, again, is why the likes of Cronk and Thurston were so good.

They were prepared to pay the price.

The average playmakers, bless their tender hearts, they passed nice and early so they could clear out before the collision arrived.

Now, though, the big men are increasingly being restricted, their power diminished as the game tries to take the violence and aggression out of what is, if not in the legal sense, still a violent and aggressive game.

It’s a bubble effect that the game has not fully thought through, not for the first time.

When the game outlawed punching in a bid to end on-field stoushes it created an environment now where players push and shove and countless small sins are committed, and where often the bravest and loudest on the field are often the same player who would not be in the same postcode if there was a chance of some natural justice.

There are no repercussions for the motor mouths, who are usually the ones who create the push and shove. That is why there should be a taunting rule, treated equally as seriously as punching.

While there was a case to better protect the playmakers the pendulum has swung too far.

Halves still in the act of passing should still be fair game for any defender the half chooses to isolate.

It is a rule that rewards the average playmaker and handicaps the good big men.

Originally published as Paul Kent opinion: Playmakers get all the advantages over rugby league’s big men