Quote: Roy Haggerty "I thought the tackle was innocent, in the sense that there was no intent to injure at all. I don't think the various tacklers were necessarily aware of the position Evans had found himself in.
However, I am increasingly concerned about the way tackling has evolved in super league over the last 5 years. There's always been an element to the tackle of controlling the speed of the PTB, and this used to involve players seeking to stand up the ball carrier with a ball-and all tackle, then get an extra man in to put him on the deck, with tacklers on top. This then evolved with the introduction of wrestling techniques, of which some - putting pressure on joints - were rapidly and rightly outlawed. What I seem to be seeing more and more of now, however, is players trying to hold up the man, and then get two or three bodies in not to put him on the deck, but to push him back in the collision while he is effectively helpless, or even part grounded. It's this techniques which I think is responsible for what seems to be a significant increase in serious injuries - particularly leg injuries - in our game. Watch the next game, and look to see the number of times when a ball-carrier is swamped with three or even four tacklers, and has at least one leg pinned stationary on the ground, while his body is being twisted in a different direction by two or three additional tacklers. It's pretty gruesome to watch, and places huge pressure on the knee in particular.
In a collision sport like ours, injuries will always be part of the game. However, I do genuinely think that the tackling techniques which combine wrestling, multiple-tacklers, and trying to force the man back in the tackle simultaneously, are increasingly dangerous. Thankfully, it's still very rare in the amateur games I ref, because players are rarely fit or drilled enough to get more than 2 tacklers into the collision, and not usually powerful enough to engage in serious driving back of the halted player. But in the pro game I think we're approaching a situation in which we need to consider rule changes to the tackle to prevent horrendous injuries such as that Evans suffered.'"
Well said. I think that this is what TS is talking about ie;wrestling techniques. It's Rugby League not WWE.
On a side note my 13yr old nephew has, this afternoon, undergone a knee operation due to a tackle that he sustained. It involved him being held up in the tackle, by two oponents and then other(s) coming in.
