Bennett leads with head as coaches rail against contact rules

Wayne Bennett backs rule-makers as other NRL coaches rail against crackdown on contact with head.

Jaydn Su'A of the Rabbitohs is sent to the sin-bin during Saturday night’s clash with the Brisbane Broncos. Picture: Dan Peled/AAP

South Sydney coach and seven-time premiership winner Wayne Bennett launched an impassioned defence of the game’s rule makers on Saturday night as a slew of coaches railed against the hard line stance on contact with the head.

After a host of players were placed on report and sin-binned on Friday night, the blitz continued on Saturday when Canberra and Queensland forward Josh Papalii was sent off for a high shot on Bulldogs winger Tui Katoa on Saturday afternoon at Suncorp Stadium.

The trend continued in the remaining two matches on Saturday night — Rabbitohs forward Jaydn Su’A was sin-binned for a high shot in his side’s win over Cronulla and Sitili Tupouniua and Lachlan Burr were given a rest during the Sydney Roosters-North Queensland game. A dozen players have been sent to the sin-bin over the opening two days of Magic Round.

A succession of coaches criticised the decision to clamp down on contact with the head — Bulldogs coach Trent Barrett suggested the game was in danger of turning into Oztag while Canberra coach Ricky Stuart claimed the change would force him to recruit different players.

Bennett, however, backed the changes and warned the game left itself open to legal challenge unless it acted now.

Josh Papalii gets his marching orders. Picture: Scott Davis/NRL Photos

“I’ve been fighting for that for years,” Bennett said.

“I don’t believe we should make any contact with the head at all. If we do, there’s got to be an outcome.

“But if the ref misses it or doesn’t penalise it in the moment … that’s the beauty of the system, that we can charge them the following day.

“I’m a fan of the sin bin only if they have a HIA and they go off the field, then I’m a fan of the sin bin.

“But some of the incidents last night and even tonight, no one really got concussed as a result of it, so the penalty is fine.

“Get on with it, the judiciary can look at it tomorrow and lay the charges.”

Pressed on the importance of stamping out contact with the head, Bennett said: “AFL won’t accept it, if you touch anybody above the shoulders you’re in huge trouble.

“Rugby union made a huge change two years ago where anything above the shoulders you’re probably in the sin bin and you’re probably doing two to three weeks. When are we going to get the message in our game?

“When we get liable cases against us in the next 10 years, case after case, because the game did nothing about reducing the number of head knocks? It’s a poor excuse, we’ve got to come to the reality of the situation.”

Bulldogs coach Trent Barrett was scathing about the crackdown. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

Bennett’s stance flew in the face of many as Magic Round became a magnet for controversy. Barrett was among the most scathing and his comments could yet result in the Canterbury coach coming under the microscope of head office.

“It’s pretty hard not to touch anyone’s head when you’re trying to tackle someone,” Barrett said.

“It’s impossible not to. Bearing in mind most of us coaches played as well. I know I’m going to get hit in the head occasionally. I’m fine with that.

“There’s no thuggery in the game any more. There’s no swinging arms and elbows. it’s not like it was in the 80s. No one intentionally goes out to do it.

“It’ll turn into a game of Oztag. If that’s what they want … that’s the concern for us. We have a great game, but if we keep changing the rules who knows where it’ll end up.”

Stuart added: “I know we have to play to our mums and dads. I’m the first to promote the game … I do it because I feel it’s my responsibility to promote the game and I want to promote the game to parents.

“But Jesus, we have a game that’s quite unique. We have a game that’s not for everyone. It’s as simple as that. It’s a tough, brutal, contact sport. If we want to take it away, let us know. I will start recruiting a different type of player.”

“[Josh] definitely hit him high but he was falling into the tackle. There are going to be a whole heap of send offs this year if that’s a send off incident.”

The game has changed in the space of two days. Perhaps forever. The ARL Commission under chair Peter V’landys are determined to stamp out contact with the head, their motivation twofold.

Sitili Tupouniua of the Roosters walks off the field after being sent to the sin bin during the match against North Queensland Cowboys. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

Firstly, they want to ensure they continue to make the game alluring for mums and dads. Secondly, they want to future-proof the game against potential legal action.

The commission believes the gains in the long term will more than compensate for any short-term pain.

“We need to tackle lower,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.

“Of course they don’t mean it but we need to get better at not hitting other players in the head. It has been a bit over the top this weekend but it has also made a point.

“It will recalibrate after this weekend because there has been such an uproar over it. But we also need to recalibrate the height of our tackle.”

In Bennett, they also have a supporter although he wasn’t happy with everything that happened during his side’s win. In particular, Bennett has become increasingly concerned with the number of stoppages in the game.

“We’re getting confused,” Bennett said.

“We’re talking about a fast open game and that’s not what we’re doing. I’ve been on this for a long time about the head stuff.

“Who’s reffing the game now? Is it the [video] bunker? The bunker is there for support of the referees but if the ref hasn’t seen it or penalised it they can pick it up tomorrow and they can charge the players tomorrow.

“They’ve got all those rights. You’ve got to understand that the game relies on momentum, for the game to be attractive it needs to have momentum in it and every time you stop the game you break the momentum.

“That’s the thing about the captain’s challenge – there’s a lot of things I like about the captain’s challenge – but it stops the game.

“We’re not going to have a fast and free-flowing game if we missed the moment … we’ve let another four or five tackles go and then we’ve stopped the game and walked back to the point, get a penalty and we all start over again.”