Cowboys veteran Jason Taumalolo calls out confusing high tackle crackdown

Confusion around the NRL’s latest ‘crackdown’ on high tackles is being felt at all levels of the game, with a Cowboys veteran weighing in on the debate.

Confusion around the NRL’s latest ‘crackdown’ on high tackles is being felt at all levels of the game, but most notably at the coalface.

While the game’s hierarchy refuse to label it a crackdown, despite 15 players being sent to the sin bin in Round 8, leading players know any slight mistake could see their team at a disadvantage.

Cowboys veteran Jason Taumalolo has experienced his fair share of short-term crackdowns across a glittering 10 year career, but admitted he was at odds with the latest heavy handed officiating.

Titans Jaimin Jolliffe, Chris Butler Referee sin-binned during game against the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville. Picture: NRL Photos

With players en route to Brisbane for the annual Magic Round showpiece, the 280-game veteran suggested that could throw an extra spanner in the works.

“It is a lot more sin binning these days than it was back then (early in my career),” Taumalolo said.

“They are trying to crack down on the head highs and whatnot.

“I think there are deliberate head highs or contact with the head and then there are accidentals. You can’t be sin-binning every other person for touching the head. That is not my way of seeing things but everyone has their own opinion.

Jason Taumalolo of the Cowboys is tackled during the round eight NRL match between North Queensland Cowboys and Gold Coast Titans at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, on April 26, 2025, in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

“What they do with Magic Round, it could be hit and miss, we will see what happens.

Frustrations among fans and legends of the game have boiled over in the past week, with Immortal Andrew Johns one of the more vocal critics of the increase in sin bins.

At the heart of frustrations has been a recent tendency for the NRL Bunker to intervene in running play to retrospectively sin bin players for previous indiscretions, some more than a completed set prior.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo dismissed claims that there had been a rule crackdown, but said the officials may have overstepped in some regard.

“There’s been no crackdown, and there’s been no policy change,” Abdo told Mark Levy on radio station 2GB.

“A couple of weeks ago we had a round where the refs missed a few high tackles that should have been sin-binned.

North Queensland Cowboys training at Cowboys HQ. Jason Taumalolo. Picture: Evan Morgan

“We communicated through the clubs saying, ‘That’s not the standard, the standard is what is has always been – it’s been consistent the last couple of seasons’.

“What we’ve seen now is a slight over-reaction the other way, which is unfortunate. I get the frustration around the Bunker intervening in play. That’s certainly not something any of us want to see.

“I think there has been too much intervention. The Bunker is meant to intervene if there is a serious act of foul play or there’s a howler. We don’t want the howlers missed. But there has been too much intervention”

As for Taumalolo, he said while confusion reigned, the onus would be on the players to keep their noses clean.

“For our sakes we just have to be clean and try to avoid any contact with the head as much as we can,” he said.

“If we do that then we have less chance of us having 12 men on the field or even less.”

Originally published as Cowboys veteran Jason Taumalolo calls out confusing high tackle crackdown