‘It’s common sense’: Isaah Yeo happy with current rules on kick pressure and doesn’t want the NRL to bring back blockers

It was the old rule that made Nathan Cleary untouchable, but bringing back blockers to protect kickers isn’t a good idea according to one of his teammates.

Isaah Yeo doesn’t want kick pressure rules to change on the back of a couple of controversial calls this season. Picture: NRL Images

The Panthers have been the best at most things over the past four years, with their ability to put blockers in the defensive line to protect Nathan Cleary as he kicked the ball infuriating rival fans and forcing a rule change from head office.

But co-captain Isaah Yeo doesn’t want the rule to be relaxed in the wake of several nasty incidents involving defenders clattering into kickers that have resulted in serious injuries and a landmark hearing at the judiciary in which Harry Grant escaped a fine for making minimal contact on Daniel Atkinson.

While that was at the lower end of the scale in terms of contact, there have been some shockers this year, with Freddy Lussick banned for four matches for a tackle that broke Lachlan Ilias’ leg in NSW Cup.

There was another incident in reserve grade last week that left Panthers halfback Brad Schneider with an LCL injury in his knee that will keep him sidelined for a month.

Bulldogs forward Kitione Kautoga was sent to the sin bin and banned for three matches for the act of foul play, but Yeo says defenders know what their responsibility is when it comes to finding a balance between pressure and looking after kickers.

Brad Schneider suffered a knee injury in NSW Cup yesterday - no other video angles but potential PCL sprain w nasty direct contact during kick.

Early reports he will miss at least a few weeks - was somehow able to play on for 15 mins after this. Another blow for Panthers halves. pic.twitter.com/uXukjmvdCk

— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) May 11, 2024

“I think you can tell the difference between a nasty one (and something else). If you were to watch the Schneider one last week, that was a bad one,” he said.

“But if you compare it to the Harry Grant one, there’s definitely a difference between those two.

“That’s probably put more onus on the defender to not make contact, but we still want kick pressure, and that’s what everyone wanted last year and it’s why we don’t have blockers this year.

“But now off the back of that, they’re going ‘how do we fix it?’

“It’s a bit of a hard one because we’re sometimes a reactive game, but I feel like it’s common sense and there’s a lot of ownership on the defender to not put a kicker in a dangerous position.”

‘It is illegal’ 🧐🚫

Panthers called out for trying to ‘exploit’ rules with Nathan Cleary blockers amid Souths mind games 🚨

STORY 👉 https://t.co/xJk54oxPtCpic.twitter.com/VybWbT27eB

— Fox League (@FOXNRL) September 22, 2022

One solution would be to bring back blockers to provide kickers with a bit more protection given defenders would have to change their line to get to them.

But Yeo says that’s not the answer, even though it would provide Penrith with a major advantage when Cleary returns from a hamstring injury.

“That was always the knock on us, but I think that’s because we did it well and we’ve probably got the best kicker in the game as well,” he said.

“I don’t think (we should bring it back) and I think teams have adapted (to the new rules).

“If it was such a big part of the game, I’m not sure many people would have noticed that it’s gone. Sometimes we can get caught up in this media hysteria, but I don’t think it needs to come back because it’s not affecting the game.”