Rugby league legend Matty Johns has labelled hip drop tackles “insidious” and backed the NRL’s move to stamp the controversial tackle out of the game.
Bulldogs young gun Jacob Preston was the latest player to be sent to the sin bin for the dangerous tackle technique after bringing Rabbitohs winger Izack Thompson to the ground.
The 21-year-old escaped suspension and many were sceptical of the decision to send him from the field for 10 minutes.
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Speaking during the Rabbitohs and Bulldogs’ clash, Dan Ginnane said the NRL had sent a directive to clubs during the week, making it clear they were stamping down on the technique.
Bryan Fletcher was clearly confused on the topic and Johns said he was certain that previously the tackle was being used on purpose, but now players are simply making a mistake.
“I still don’t get these hip drops, be honest here, certain coaches are saying certain players are meaning this, you don’t learn that at training do you,” Fletcher said on Sunday night with Matty Johns.
“I’ll say it, I reckon there has, it has come from somewhere, I cannot come at the fact that all of this has just come out of nowhere,” Johns said.
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“There has been, there was a period in the game where players were doing it deliberately.”
“There would have been yeah, I think so too but some of the tackles we see now aren’t done on purpose,” Nathan Hindmarsh added.
“They are just tackles that have gone wrong and we are going to get that in the game.”
Johns also pointed to Preston’s tackle and said “he wasn’t in control” with the tackler having duty of care to not injure their opponent.
He also explained that hip drop tackles have the potential to inflict career-ending injuries and backed the NRL’s move to stamp them out of the game.
“Jacob Preston’s there, he had his feet off the ground, he wasn’t in control but there’s others that I think they have got the ability to not be in that position and do it,” Johns said.
“I’ll say this… they’ve identified a tackle that basically is foul play and was being used, which began to bring an opponent to the ground but then we’ve seen players end up with injuries that could be career-threatening.
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“I’ll give you an example, what we are going through with the game there is a lot of criticism… but what they are doing is they are in the midst of trying to get rid of a tackle that is insidious.
“It can finish a career.”
Speaking after their Round 6 clash, Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou also supported the NRL’s decision.
“The game is doing a great job trying to do what they can,” Demetriou said.
“It is up to the clubs to show some onus because it is going to affect your team somewhere.
“You are going to lose a high-quality player to a hip drop, which is a tackle that can be avoided in my opinion.
“We don’t practice it. There is no way that would happen at training, I can’t stress that point enough, it does not happen at training.
“Coaches and teammates would not let that happen, so I don’t know why we are accepting that it is OK on the field.”
