NRL head of football Graham Annesley has vowed to drive hip-drop tackles out of the game as the rate of charges being issued for the controversial technique has all but doubled in 2023.
Figures provided by the NRL show the rise of hip-drop tackles in the past two seasons in particular, with 22 charges being issued by the Match Review Committee in 2022 at a rate of slightly more than one every 10 games.
Ten hip-drop charges in the first six rounds in 2023 has seen that figure spike to one charge every five games, though Annesley insisted there had been no crackdown edict from head office.
The tackling technique can cause serious injury when a ball-carrier’s legs are caught beneath a defender using their body weight to bring a player to ground.
But several rulings have sparked debate in recent weeks, the latest being what Rabbitohs officials privately believe was an uncharged hip-drop tackle by Dolphins forward Ray Stone on Keaon Koloamatangi.
Stone was not charged by the MRC after last Thursday’s loss to South Sydney, while Koloamatangi will miss six to eight weeks with a syndesmosis issue that is expected to require surgery this week.
The one-week ban faced by Nat Butcher has also divided opinion, while Queensland Origin coach Billy Slater believes the Roosters back-rower was hard done by and only sin-binned because Cronulla’s Briton Nikora did not get up to play the ball before finishing the game.
Annesley defended the on-field rulings and said scrutiny on tackling techniques did not raise concerns of players “feigning injury any more than any other type of incident”.
“We’ve been charging players with hip-drops now for the last three seasons, there’s no additional focus on them than in the past, we’re just still seeing them unfortunately,” Annesley said.
“It’s not that long ago that we had dangerous throws and so-called spear tackles in the game.
“We’ve gradually driven that sort of thing out of the game and eventually, the same thing will happen with hip-drop. The last thing we want is penalties, players on report and suspensions. But we can’t ignore incidents that impact players’ safety.”
Both Slater and fellow Storm staff member Ryan Hoffman argued on Sunday that some instances of hip-drop tackles are simply unavoidable “rugby league accidents”, as Hoffman told the ABC on Sunday.
“The game’s getting faster, they’ve made the game as fast as it can be,” Hoffman said, pointing to policing of play-the-balls that encourage wrestling techniques.
“Players’ tackle technique is going out the window because they’re fatigued … and you don’t get a reward these days for tackling around the legs … so players are getting taught [that] you have to tackle a bit higher and then slide yourself down to get the bloke on the ground.”
Speaking on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show, Slater was wary of a spate of suspensions being meted out, especially if players begin staying down looking for the bunker’s intervention.
“With this hip-drop, if the game wants to be serious about it, there’s at least 12 [instances] a game that I see,” he said.
“The only time we’re actually suspending people is when the player stays down. It’s the new crusher [tackle] … I think we’ve got to be really careful that we don’t just react to players on the ground.
“I don’t think players should be sitting out. Fine them and help them get it out of the game, but there are elements to it that are part of the game … if you police everyone, you won’t have any players left.”
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