Player A is a 108kg, 15-year NRL veteran, prowling at the back of the field, waiting to explode onto the ball with at least 20 metres of running at near top speed before colliding with an opponent.
Player B is 88kg, on a good day, a former sprinter in his school days who clocked 10.58 seconds for the 100 metres and has barely fully matured into his body.
It sounds like an unfair fight – because it is.
But within the first 10 seconds of a winner-takes-all finals match, this is precisely what happened when Roosters hardman Jared Waerea-Hargreaves poleaxed Manly’s Tolu Koula, leaving the latter concussed and out of the game. Deep down, even Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold knew they would struggle to win from there.
So, should we start the discussion about banning the kick-off again? No.
But why was Koula even in that position of having to make the tackle on Waerea-Hargreaves? And why aren’t coaches thinking about better ways to protect their most vulnerable defenders from the kick-off?
Tolu Koula is helped off the field after being knocked out in the first hit-up on Saturday night.Credit: NRL Photos
For 116 years rugby league has been a delicious tango between big men and small men. The game is better for the contest between athletes of varying shapes and sizes.
But there’s something not right about every cookie cutter kick-off seemingly being sent down into a corner, and often the opposition’s biggest man, like Waerea-Hargreaves, having the opportunity to hurtle into a centre like Koula, or a winger who was right next to him like Tommy Talau, or even a precious playmaker like Luke Brooks who defends a tad wider from the re-start.
For context, the Roosters exploit this tactic better than most.
Waerea-Hargreaves and Spencer Leniu, in particular, have developed a liking for arching towards the sideline at the smaller outside backs from the opening carry after the kick-off. It’s natural: they will probably gain more metres and generate a quicker play-the-ball. Big man v small man etc.
But here’s a novel idea: why don’t coaches start telling players to kick off into the middle third of the field, where their biggest and most powerful forwards are likely to make the opening tackle, rather than creating a Waerea-Hargreaves v Koula mismatch? There’s also an added benefit of aiming for the posts, and potentially causing chaos by hitting them.
Koula is not the first outside back to be concussed from a kick-off this year, but hopefully he’s the last.
St George Illawarra’s Moses Suli was ruled out of the game after the first tackle on Anzac Day when he had a head clash with, you guessed it, Waerea-Hargreaves. His incident was mainly caused by a slight bump from teammate Jaydn Su’A before impact, forcing Suli’s head into the wrong place.
Statistics show teams which lose an outside back to injury or concussion in the first half have a horrible winning record.
There have also been forwards such as Canterbury’s Poasa Faamausili and North Queensland’s Sam McIntyre who have had head collisions defending from the kick-off in 2024. It can happen to anyone.
Overwhelmingly, coaches know tackle technique needs to improve to avoid future incidents such as the one which cast a pall over Allianz Stadium.
But if they already try to protect million-dollar halves like Nathan Cleary, Jahrome Hughes and Mitchell Moses by lining them up on the wing when defending a kick-off, why keep sending the ball into an area where the centres and wingers are being targeted?
The NRL has already tried, controversially, to water down the risk of concussion from re-starts.
This year, it incentivised teams to take more short kick-offs and dropouts, and more teams are doing so. It came a year too late for the Broncos, who, everyone forgets, conceded a penalty goal for botching a short dropout in the first half before Nathan Cleary’s 17-minute grand final masterclass. They lost by two.
NFL buffs have reacted with apathy to the sport’s new kick-off rule in 2024, where defenders line up 25 yards in front of the kicker so they’re not running as far downfield before a tackle. The fans might not be quite on board, but the lawmakers don’t care.
The NRL’s kick-off remains a vexing issue.
When forwards like Manly’s Nathan Brown start their run-ups from outside the field of play – literally earning him the nickname “Back Fence Brown” – fans in the stands and viewers at home shuffle in expectation and excitement in their seats. It’s part of rugby league’s theatre.
But it’s a theatre which can probably do without the likes of Koula being asked to make the first tackle.
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