South Sydney prop Tevita Tatola has vented his anger at the prospect of another month on the sidelines after being the victim of what the Rabbitohs believe was a second hip-drop tackle in less than a month.
Tatola suffered the injury in the first minute of the 50-16 Good Friday blowout win over Canterbury, but because he played on for almost half an hour it was widely accepted his knee was fine.
However, Tatola told The Sun-Herald that club medicos had informed him he had suffered a grade-two medial ligament tear. Scans confirmed the news on Saturday.
The front-rower was returning from the same injury he suffered in round three against the Sydney Roosters. Souths believe that was also a hip-drop tackle, but the player involved escaped sanction.
The injury news comes as hip-drop tackles become an increasingly controversial topic in the game.
Bulldogs lock Harrison Edwards fell on to the back of Tatola’s knee on Friday. The tackle was not penalised.
Another Canterbury player, Jacob Preston, was placed on report for a hip-drop tackle on Izaac Thompson later in the same game but escaped charge. Match review committee chief Luke Patten said Preston “was attempting a one-on-one steal and fell away from the ball, accidentally landing on the ankle/foot of player Thompson”.
Thompson suffered an ankle injury. Souths are hopeful he will only miss the one week.
Tatola, on the other hand, said his prognosis was not as positive from what he believed was a hip-drop tackle.
Tevita Tatola charges into the Bulldogs defence on Good Friday, despite having suffered a kneee injury in the opening exchanges.Credit: NRL Photos
“I was pretty shitty when it happened,” he said. “The doc told me it was a grade-two medial and I could be out for four to six weeks. It sucks.
“I did a grade-two medial a few weeks ago. I was meant to be out four to six weeks, but the knee healed and I came back earlier than expected.
“I don’t know if hip drops are happening at training. I know some boys don’t go out to intentionally do it. My one happened in the first minute, so you can’t blame it on fatigue.
“I was already out a few weeks, now I’m going to be out another few weeks.
“There’s no place for the hip drop. Players will miss games from a tackle that can be avoided. Hopefully, the game stops it in some sort of way.”
Josh Addo-Carr suffered a syndesmosis injury and is out for six to eight weeks.
At least Tatola’s injury will be offset by the likely return of Jai Arrow for next Thursday’s clash against former coach Wayne Bennett and Redcliffe.
The hip-drop tackle has become a hot topic and has plenty in the game confused about what actually constitutes one.
Bulldogs general manager of football Phil Gould said in his commentary role for Channel Nine about Preston’s tackle after Friday’s game: “This is professional football. It’s not tiddlywinks. That is not a hip-drop tackle. It’s not a penalisable offence, it’s not even a sin bin offence. Three blokes doing time from last week’s round should not be out of the game and not suspended for the tackles they made.”
Last weekend three players, Cronulla’s Dale Finucane, Warriors forward Marata Niukore and Canterbury’s Jayden Okunbor, were suspended for a combined six matches for hip-drop tackles.
Souths coach Jason Demetriou said after the game that he believed Tatola and Preston were victims of hip-drop tackles, and if a similar tackle happened at training, “I’ll guarantee you teammates aren’t happy about it”.
“Your own teammates are filthy if you do that,” Demetriou said. “I don’t know why if we’re not doing it at training, why are we doing it on the field?
“I get that there are circumstances where it can be an accident, where there’s some swing in the tackle. I understand that. But when you’re side by side and you’re losing your legs to drop your hips down, it’s not a way to take people to ground. It’s a lazy way.
“I think the game is doing a great job trying to do what they can. It’s up to the clubs to show some onus on it because it’s going to affect your team somewhere. You’re going to lose a high-quality player to a hip-drop, which is a tackle that can be avoided, in my opinion.”
Hooker Damien Cook said the game needed to put plenty of emphasis on the tackle in a similar way the NRL tightened the rules regarding concussion.
“We’ve got to bring some light to it,” he said. “I’m not sure how to do that, whether it’s fines or suspensions, but the more we shine a light on it, the more players will be aware of it,” Cook said.
Meanwhile, Josh Addo-Carr will undergo surgery on Monday after suffering a syndesmosis injury in the Good Friday clash and is set to miss six to eight weeks.
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