NRL 2021: Christian Welch avoids charge for Sam Walker hit
The fact Christian Welch’s name wasn’t even on the charge sheet just makes a mockery of the NRL’s controversial crackdown.
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COMMENT
So much for the NRL’s high tackle crackdown.
The NRL match review committee has absolutely dropped the ball again by not charging Melbourne prop Christian Welch for the shot on Sam Walker that sparked an angry reaction from Roosters coach Trent Robinson on Thursday night.
I’m not saying Welch should have been rubbed out for weeks but the fact his name wasn’t even on the charge sheet when it was handed out on Friday morning — after the incident did not so much as warrant an onfield penalty — just makes a mockery of this controversial crackdown.
On one hand half the rugby league population will probably argue Welch’s tackle on Walker as nothing more than an accident.
They will say Welch had every right to be putting kick pressure on Walker and it was only bad luck that led to what most would say was relatively minor head contact.
Yet Robinson and the Roosters players were anything but happy.
And Robinson raised a very legitimate argument when questioned about it post-match.
Like he said, he had no problem whatsoever with Justin Olam’s crunching tackle that knocked the wind right out of Walker.
That’s football.
But questioned if there is a duty of care from the defending player when applying kick pressure, Robinson was clear: “He (Walker) kicked the ball and he got hit in the head, after he kicked the ball.”
How is that an accident?
Welch had Walker’s entire body to aim at and yet he somehow hit him in the head.
And it doesn’t matter if Welch is tall and Walker is small.
It should be Welch’s responsibility to make sure he does not make head contact.
I actually feel sorry for the onfield officials because they are dealing with these issues on the run and in the heat of the battle.
But there is no such excuse for the match review committee who would have watched countless replays of the tackle and still deemed it okay.
How do they say that in the current climate — when the game is supposed to be doing all it can to get rid of all avoidable head contact?
What is not up for debate is that at that moment of that tackle Walker was the most vulnerable player on the field when he was kicking the ball.
He had absolutely no way to protect himself and so surely there must be a duty of care from the defending player.
Even if it was an accident it was certainly careless and in my view reckless.
And it wasn’t bad luck that he made contact with Walker’s head.
It was only good luck that this did not result in a serious injury.
Imagine the blow-up if Walker had suffered a broken cheekbone or jaw or a fractured eye socket?
Surely this is the definition of avoidable head contact.
Roosters fume after high shot on young star
By Martin Gabor
Roosters coach Trent Robinson is sick of his players constantly getting hit in the head with no repercussions after rising star Sam Walker was collected high, sparking an all-in scuffle during the 46-0 loss to the Storm in Newcastle.
The young halfback appeared to clash heads with Christian Welsh as the Storm prop came in to tackle Walker after he put up a towering kick. His teammates were quick to rush to his aid, with senior players James Tedesco, Angus Crichton and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves all involved in the melee.
No action was taken, however, but the Roosters did lose Daniel Suluka-Fifita later in the second half for a late shot that caught Cameron Munster high.
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“I didn’t like that challenge – the kicking one,” a frustrated Robinson said.
“He kicked the ball, and he got hit in the head after he kicked the ball. I’m sick of talking about Roosters players and head contact.”
Walker is supremely talented and has shown his attacking prowess when the Roosters are on the front foot, but the brave 78kg teenager has struggled at times to match it with some of the competition’s behemoths.
The good teams will send plenty of traffic his way, and he also found out it’s unwise to hold onto the ball too long when Justin Olam is in the area.
“Olam’s was a real physical shot. When you’re not looking and they come from a distance and they get you, it definitely takes the wind out of you,” his coach said with a slight chuckle.
“He’s got footy courage. But he’s learning some awesome lessons on both sides. I thought he kept playing the longer the game went, and his defence got better. But along with a lot of our guys, it wasn’t good enough for a long period of time.”
Walker has been a shining light in what’s been a difficult year for a Roosters side that has lost a lot of seasoned veterans to retirement, but Robinson isn’t giving up two months out from the finals.
Their famed defence has come unstuck a number of times this year against the top teams, and the Roosters will slip to sixth if the Sea Eagles beat the Bulldogs by 12 points on Saturday.
“You always believe in yourself. No one can ask us to stop believing in ourselves. The competition’s not over,” their defiant coach said.
“I should be saying something different, but you have to believe in yourself. You have to believe in the ability to change things in your favour, and we will.
“That’s not hiding from the fact that we’ve been well beaten in the last two games by the top two teams. But the game’s not over.”
Storm continue stunning march to glory
It was supposed to be a heavyweight bout between the two best teams of the past decade, but the Roosters must have missed the memo because they brought a butter knife to a bazooka fight.
The Storm have embarrassed teams on a weekly basis this season, highlighted by a 66-16 win over the Tigers two weeks ago that saw them lead 40-0 at the break, but things were meant to be different against the side that beat them in the 2018 decider.
Instead, they raced in five unanswered tries to lead 30-0 at halftime to justify their premiership favouritism. They are setting attacking records that may never be broken, and even if Nathan Cleary returns, it won’t be enough for the Panthers to stop them.
The Storm were without Ryan Papenhuyzen, Harry Grant and Nelson Asofa-Solomona but didn’t skip a beat, and things will only get better when they finally return to Victoria for their next game in Round 18.
They have now won 13 matches in a row and made the team running fifth look like a park footy side. They are the first team to score 40 points or more 10 times in a season, and it’s only Round 16.
Throw in the towel. It’s time to stop the fight.
“I’ve been around too long to say it’s a two-horse race at this time of the year,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy said, indicating some of the Origin players could be rested down the track.
“There are a lot of things that can happen between now and the end of the year until finals time.
“We’re not going to get carried away with that talk.”
Munster magic gets Storm going
His feet have got him in trouble a number of times this year, but Cameron Munster’s left boot was on its best behaviour as he turned in his best performance in months to remind everyone why his footy – and not his antics – have earned him the title of public enemy number one in NSW.
The Maroons five-eighth vented his frustration at halftime in Game Two due to Queensland’s clunky attack, but he had no such problems on Thursday with three try assists including a magical kick to set up Josh Addo-Carr from inside his own half.
Munster was ably supported by Addo-Carr who moved back to the top of the try-scoring charts with his third hat-trick of the year, while Nicho Hynes was untouchable at the back, running for a game-high 189 metres to go with a try and an assist.
Fittingly, Melbourne’s No.6 grabbed a four-pointer of his own when he chased through a Jahrome Hughes grubber to make it 40-0, but was then belted high and late by Daniel Suluka-Fifita who was sent to the sin bin.
Chooks roasted in defence
They’ve built their success under Robinson on the back of the famed Bondi Wall, but the Roosters’ defensive line was built of straw as the big bad Storm blew it down with worrying ease.
It’s the third time in a row, and fourth time in five games, that they’ve conceded 30 or more points, and some of the tries were amateurish, with Dale Finucane and Kenny Bromwich crashing through some feeble defence that wasn’t up to NRL standard.
The Roosters were actually on top for the first five minutes, but they crumbled after Addo-Carr’s spectacular try and never recovered. Even their attack looked pedestrian, with the hosts twice coughing up the ball on the first play from scrum moves close to the line.
They are just two points ahead of the Sea Eagles, who can leapfrog them with a win over the Bulldogs. Injuries have hurt them badly this year, and they’ll just be making up the numbers in September.
“We got outsmarted a lot of times tonight,” Robinson said.
“We got what we deserved. We were quite physical, and then we were quite passive the longer the half went.”
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