Cowboys coach Henry on prowl over shoulder charge ban

COWBOYS coach Neil Henry yesterday expressed his dismay at moves to have the shoulder charge banned.

COWBOYS coach Neil Henry yesterday expressed his dismay at moves to have the shoulder charge banned.

As a medical-based committee investigates the dangers of the tackle, Henry argued the "prowler", where a third man attacked the legs of a ball-carrier, was a more pressing problem than the shoulder charge.

Debate over the future of the shoulder charge is raging, as Souths ace Greg Inglis faces a four-match ban for his brutal shot on the Dragons' Dean Young.

But Henry, whose star playmaker Johnathan Thurston was knocked out by a nasty elbow from Dragons forward Matt Prior in May, scoffed at suggestions the shoulder charge was endangering player welfare.

"The doctors are looking at things and it is a player welfare issue but I think the shoulder charge has been part of the game for so long," he said.

"There is more of a case for gang-tackling than shoulder charges.

"In some games you don't see any shoulder charges, the match review committee look at it and if there is contact with the head, then they act on it.

"I would like to see it remain part of the game but as with any foul play, if the head of the player is hit, it's a high shot, even if it's accidental.

"We should be really looking at the third man in tackles."

Spokesman for the Rugby League Medical Officer's Association of club doctors, orthopedic surgeon Sam Sorrenti, is adamant the shoulder charge must be banned.

But Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens insists the tackle still has a place in the game if policed appropriately.

"You have traditionalists who will say you can't scrap it (shoulder charge) but contested scrums are gone, raking at the play-the-ball is gone," he said.

"The game is evolving like life itself and you can't be living in what was happening 10 years or 30 years ago.

"It is a combative sport and I believe people like to watch that."