The NRL must crack down on the ugly spectacle of wrestling in ruck
THE battle is over and the wrestlers have won. PAUL CRAWLEY outlines why the NRL must crack down on this continued scourge on the game.
Rabbitohs
Don't miss out on the headlines from Rabbitohs. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A BIG round of applause needs to go out to the Melbourne Storm this week.
And the bosses at the NRL should be leading the cheers.
From what we saw in Perth last Sunday night the war is over.
It seems the game has finally surrendered to the decade-long push against the rugby league wrestle.
As James Graham told us on NRL 360 this week: “It is here to stay, it is not going to go away.”
In fact, if Todd Greenberg and his marketing gurus don’t want to be seen as hypocritical they should be using chock holds and neck grabs to sell the game to the mums and dads in advertising campaigns in the future.
And let’s also hope every junior club gets on board, and starts employing wrestling coaches at every level to teach kids the art of winning football games legally.
This is obviously the image the NRL wants for the game.
Otherwise someone would be doing something to stop it.
They found a way to stop punching.
They found a way to get rid of the shoulder charge.
Yet they can’t get rid of the wrestle?
Here’s an idea: How about we start giving greater reward for good old fashioned one-on-one shots.
What I can’t understand is how teams can get four men into tackles and slow down a play-the-ball for between six and eight seconds with a good wrestle, yet players like Josh Jackson get penalised for running out of the line with a hit and drive tackle if they even attempt to gain a one second advantage.
When was the last time you heard someone cheering a choke hold, or a good grapple?
We brought up the debate with Sam Burgess and Graham on Tuesday night in the wake of Burgess’ halftime complaint to the referee in South Sydney’s loss to Melbourne.
In fairness, Burgess was blowing up about it, simply stating fact.
“My stat man had got to me and let me know that the ruck speed (for Souths) was one and a half seconds slower (to Melbourne’s),” Burgess explained.
Yet he said Souths were still getting penalised more often than Melbourne for slowing down the ruck.
And as he was talking, we were watching vision of multiple incidents involving Burgess with Melbourne players grabbing hold of his head and neck.
The theory is if you control the head you control the man, and the Storm do it brilliantly.
The vision showed Burgess looking at the referee as if to say, ‘Are you going to do something about this?”
But what can the referee do if the rules allow it?
There was another occasion in the second half where Burgess was being held in a tackle when he was belted in the back by Jordan McLean.
Then he was twisted violently as the Storm players attempted to get Burgess on his back.
But instead of penalising the tackle, the referee yelled out, “Watch his back, watch his back!”
How is this not a dangerous tackle if the referee feels compelled to warn players that it is?
It shouldn’t matter if it is intentional.
But as Graham explained, whereas the wrestle can gain your team a distinct advantage, a one-on-one hit is high risk with little reward.
“It is probably something that you don’t see from a team like Melbourne because they are so well drilled in their wrestling technique,” Graham said.
DYNASTY: Tedesco wants to create a Blue era
“The one-on-one big shot … it looks great on the camera and the crowd all rise.
“But from a coach’s point of view you are not getting what you want.”
Both Burgess and Graham admitted every club practises wrestling because that is where the game is at.
“You used the word frustration earlier,” Burgess said to Ben Ikin.
“I think clubs and other players are probably frustrated at the Storm because they are so good at what they are doing.”
Like they said, it’s no use blaming the Storm because they aren’t breaking any rules, they are just the best at it.
If this is going to change it is going to require someone at the NRL to show some backbone.
Otherwise they should start using these wrestling manoeuvres in NRL ads, and teach them at coaching clinics.
Panthers resurgence continues as cruel Souths curse strikes again
The Penrith Panthers’ stunning resurgence has continued with a sixth straight win, as the Rabbitohs’ cruel injury curse claimed another two victims in their seventh loss in a row.
Latrell’s season all but over as Souths’ horror injury toll continues
The South Sydney Rabbitohs’ horror injury toll has continued, with superstar fullback Latrell Mitchell set to be sidelined for at least a month.