Cronulla forward Dale Finucane fears defenders may have to give up on jamming in to whack blokes after Cowboys prop Coen Hess was suspended for a week for a head clash with Campbell Graham.
The incident floored Graham and left Cowboys coach Todd Payten mystified as to why his player was penalised and sent to the sin bin given the South Sydney centre didn’t require an HIA and was able to see out the game.
The Rabbitohs ultimately won the match, while Hess was hit with a grade 2 careless high tackle charge that will rub him out of Saturday’s game against the Panthers.
The contact was very similar to an incident in round 19 in which Finucane charged out of the line to try to force an error, only to clash heads with Panthers star Stephen Crichton, who lost a chunk of his ear in the collision.
Finucane was suspended for three matches after losing an appeal at the judiciary and said the ruling “set a precedent going forward”. He now fears that defenders will think twice about rushing out to belt ball carriers.
“Looking at what happened in the Coen Hess situation, it appeared to be an isolated centre-winger behind the ball and looking to turn the game for them,” Finucane said on Monday.
“I don’t know whether that takes it away. The fact that accidental head collisions are sanctioned now, I don’t know whether it plays into the psyche and the way that people go into their tackles.
“If there’s no shoulder contact, I find it hard to sanction.
“My defence was the fact that it was accidental for me. Accidents happen in a game and head collisions happen more often than people would think in a game.
“I guess the measure of the force is the determining factor, whether it‘s soft or whether it’s firm. I don’t think that accidental really matters anymore now by the sounds of how they’re policing it because he was sanctioned based on accident negligence.”
The former State of Origin representative has been back for two games for Cronulla and said the suspension hadn’t affected his defensive approach.
“I haven’t thought about it,” he said.
“It‘s only really when the opportunities present themselves. A lot of things come into it. How fatigued you are, the time of the game. Do you need to do it because you’re chasing points?
“There are so many different variables that lead into ‘does that need to happen’. In the Manly game we were up, so there was no need for any of that to risk a potential accident to happen.”
But given players now know that contact with the head – accidental or otherwise – will likely result in suspension, defenders may need to alter their technique with the game on the line to avoid any potential bans in the finals.
“Don’t get me wrong, I obviously think there needs to be an extended duty of care as well, but accidental head collisions happen every game,” Finucane said.
“It‘s obviously just the force that’s going to be playing a role in whether they are sanctioned or not. I can’t speak for other players whether it impacts their decision making in terms of are they going to do it now or not.”
