Debate on how to define a spear tackle is pointless. What matters is eradicating them from the game
Don’t worry about what Nick Cotric’s ugly tackle on Tim Lafai should be called; what matters is the NRL making sure it doesn’t happen again, writes PAUL CRAWLEY.
Opinion
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When George Burgess was suspended for nine matches for eye gouging Robbie Farah most thought it was fair punishment.
Yet there were howls of protest that it wasn’t dealt with more decisively on the field.
This week the big debate is whether it was over the top that Nick Cotric was sent off for his so-called “spear tackle” on St George Illawarra’s Tim Lafai, for which Cotric was suspended for just three matches.
The question I pose is would you rather lose an eye, or spend your life in a wheelchair?
Do we already forget why Alex McKinnon is no longer playing NRL, but instead was sitting in the Fox Sports studios on Sunday night commentating on this match?
Referee Ashley Klein should not have been criticised for sending Cotric off, he should have been supported.
Instead, now referees will go into this round questioning themselves again after the fallout.
It’s no wonder the refs have lost all confidence to make tough decisions.
And to make it even more ridiculous, this whole argument has been hijacked by the terminology of what constitutes a spear tackle.
Are we fair dinkum?
Whether it was bad enough to be called a spear tackle is completely irrelevant. Why are we being caught up by the description rather than the potential outcome?
I like Ricky Stuart and I’ve stuck up for him plenty of times because I know his passion can sometimes get him in trouble.
But his attempt to justify Cotric’s tackle here certainly did him no favours.
It was ludicrous to suggest “whoever thinks that is a spear tackle does not know the game of rugby league”.
Ricky also argued that Parramatta’s Peni Terepo was not sent off for breaking Jordan Rapana’s nose in recent weeks with a stiff arm.
Ricky claimed Rapana could have ended up with “a broken cheekbone”.
Again, is a broken cheekbone worse than a busted neck?
A spear tackle is an old term we used to use when a player picked up an opponent, arms between his legs, and took him past the horizontal point head first into the turf.
The truth is we don’t often use that term anymore. These days we call them lifting tackles, or a dangerous throw.
But Cotric’s tackle was as close as I have seen in a long time to the traditional spear tackle.
It was actually Fox Sports’ Brenton Speed who first used the term “a good old fashioned spear tackle” on the night.
Speed is a fine rugby league caller but one thing he is not is a sensationalist.
Corey Parker was also sitting beside Speed and said immediately: “This is not good … it has just gone horribly wrong.”
It is worth remembering Parker himself was the victim of a sickening tackle gone wrong early in his career where he landed on his head but incredibly walked away unscathed.
Even Steve Roach, who didn’t agree with the term spear tackle, also commented “the way (Cotric) went on with the tackle” didn’t help.
I assume “Blocker” was referring to how Cotric continued to drive Lafai instead of letting go when he passed the horizontal point.
I have no doubt it was not intentional, and no one is disputing Cotric’s character.
But I also have no doubt Jordan McLean ever set out to intentionally hurt Alex.
Yet the tackle still left one of the game’s most promising players in a wheelchair.
That is why the game got tough on the lifting tackles five years ago.
To his credit, Todd Greenberg vowed at the time: “If you lift a player and put him in a dangerous position you will be charged unless you pull out quickly and return the player to a safe position.”
A few weeks after Greenberg’s edict Josh Reynolds was hit with a grade two dangerous tackle charge for an incident involving Brent Tate, but the charge was downgraded at the judiciary.
Reynolds didn’t end up missing a game, though that only created confusion about the game’s stance.
One person who wasn’t confused was Tate, because his immediate response was fear.
“My legs were shaking for the next 10 minutes,” Tate said at the time.
“I had my family here. The last thing they want to be doing is sitting next to a hospital bed like an Alex McKinnon situation.”
In fairness to Reynolds, he actually let go when he realised Tate was in a dangerous position, whereas Cotric didn’t.
Again, I am not saying it was intentional but it was only good fortune Lafai didn’t hit the turf on the crown of his head.
Ricky also took exception when questioned what parents at home might think.
“I’m not here for the parents,” he said. “I am here for my player. I am here to win a game of football.
“And I do as much or more than any person in regards to promoting the game so don’t start that shit on me.”
Ricky does do a lot of good but someone also has to care what parents think at a time like this — and take responsibility for the game’s best interests.
We are going through a changing time where player welfare is paramount and if we continue to live in the past we won’t have a future in 20 years from now.
Thankfully, this was the first serious lifting tackle we have seen for some time. Let’s hope we don’t see any more.
But what we can’t do is ignore that it did happen.
I really hope the referees hold their nerve and we see more send-offs for tackles gone wrong, gouges or grubby yet potential harmful tactics.
Let this be the start of more decisive action from referees rather than becoming another call that sends them back into their shells of doubt because of self-interest-dictated or emotional criticism.