I hope not, whilst the defender has a responsibility to protect the safety of the other players (including his co tacklers) there should be limits based on what is reasonable and practical. I can see some players deliberately ducking into defenders to try to get them sent off.

I understand why they have changed the rules, I just don’t think it’s practical or even what the players want.

I remember Chris Hill got a red for exactly this when he was at Warrington. Heavy-ish contact mind but not one he could have easily pulled out of once he'd committed to making the tackle. In that basis it's been in the rules a while already.

With the onfield interruption from the video refs it will be interesting to see if there's a decrease in bans from the disciplinary. e.g. the Momo sin-bin would have been left last season and then he'd probably of got a ban. As it is he should be free to play. I wont hold my breath though.

The fact that everyone disagrees on here tells you that it's pretty much an impossible job

I used to be a big fan of shoulder charges etc., however, based on how the game has been refereed the last 1-2 years, Watts was an obvious red for me. If you stay upright and your shoulder makes contact with their head, your unlikely to stay on the field. In reality, Westerman should have seen red too but they were never going to send both off.

I think if a defender decides to remain upright in a tackle, they are always going to be risking it as there will be no mitigation. If they bend, they will I would hope have mitigation and it might just be a yellow if they make head contact.

If the ball carrier doesn't bend at all, and his shoulder/elbow/hip makes contact with the tacklers head, is this a card?

No because the duty of care is on the defender to avoid the attackers head and not the attacker to avoid the defenders head.

I much preferred it in the days when reds were only given for very clear dirty play etc., however, these are not rules anymore. Players need to learn the risk of tackling upright runs the risk of yellows / reds.

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If the aim is player safety this is nonsensical. The rules are very poorly drafted.

Yes I think everyone can see the need to protect players' long-term health.

The problem is the way in which the RFL is trying to achieve this - it's harming the game so much whilst not doing much to prevent concussion. Would be interested in the stats as to whether the amount of concussions is actually decreasing over time with the new rules - I still see plenty of players leave for HIA. By the time you need an HIA brain injury has already occurred/is a risk. Often it is defenders who come off worst; where in the rules are we or can we protect defenders? This obsession with the obvious head-high tackling is not helping; rules have ALWAYS been in place to deal with dirty play.

Red cards on-field should be reserved for clear foul play as a punishment. They should not be used for any controversial or arguable cases live, this is where the match commission can review objectively and gather evidence. We need a points system for punishment where the sanction fits the crime much better.

The tackle Tariq Sims put on George Williams was awesome. Rugby League is a physical contact sport where you are going to get hurt at times. It's hard enough to attract players of quality to the sport in competition with football and RU, I feel at the moment we are shooting ourselves in the foot.

Great post. but more questions than answers at the moment

Spot on. The number of times i was concussed while playing not one was in the act of being tackled. Forcing tacklers lower and lower will increase the occurrence of tacklers getting a elbow/hip/knee in the head. Look at the problems Gannons going through now, all from being the tackler, i seem to recall this was the case with Stevie Ward too.

I think it could be managed better. Where the contact is accidental/unavoidable (and I don't think the Watts one was btw) then send the player off but allow a replacement on after 10 mins has elapsed. That'd keep players focused on avoiding causing harm, would incentivise clubs to coach them not to do so but crucially wouldn't ruin a contest from an early stage.

That would be another level of subjectivity that wouldn't be manageable.

It becomes more manageable with a vr at every game. Fans always see decisions as subjective anyway - the yellow card tip tackle at cas is a case in point.