Quote ="tvoc"It was a good shot on Bai but a shoulder to the head of an opponent should have been outlawed long ago.
I've never quite understood how such a tackle can escape punishment when using any other part of the arm would be an automatic penalty ...... if picked up by the officials.'"
Actually, a shoulder to the head
[ishould[/i be a penalty...
Quote ="Laws of the game"Definition of misconduct 1. A player is guilty of misconduct if he:
(b) when effecting or attempting to effect a tackle makes contact with the head or neck of an opponent intentionally, recklessly or carelessly.'"
...the problem is that it's very hard for Ref's to tell where the initial contact is and then decide if the contact with the head was intentional/reckless/careless.
Take the Biffa jaw break the other year, I've seen numerous replays and yet still couldn't really determine with certainty where the initial contact with. IMO that was at least a careless tackle and should have resulted in a 1 match ban (the RFL kangaroo court doesn't agee with me though [urlhttp://www.therfl.co.uk/disciplinary/item?2177[/url)
The SBW-Bai one on the other hand I always thought was a pretty spot on execution of a legal shoulder charge - IIRC the contact was with the chest and it was the whiplash/Bai head hitting the deck that left him dazed.
