2 more really contentious shoulder charges this weekend with Tony Puletua send off against Les Catalans + Greg Inglis hit against Souths.

had something to do with a certain tube of you that is against the Aup

I can see the logic that any contact with the head would be deemed dangerous but shoulder charges are 1 of the great differences between the 2 codes of rugby and to outlaw them would be an absolute shame.

I personally didnt see anything wrong with either collision and in my opinion should be part and parcel of the game. The reaction of the Saints players I think told you everything as it was a sensational hit by Pulteua and a send off IMO was ridiculous.

There was no penalty given against David Kidwell for his immense shot on Willie Mason a few years ago which was brilliant and part of the reason why people love RL.

I haven't seen the Puletua incident so can't comment. I have seen the Inglis incident and felt he was very lucky to stay on the field. He had no need to go into the tackle in the manner he did. The attacking player was tackled round the legs and all GI had to do was wrap the ball up but instead he decided to run in recklessly and made contact to the head with his shoulder. He has been charged with a grade 4 offence and is looking at a 4/5 game ban.

Any update on how Young is? I guess it wouldn't have helped that he wasn't looking.

All this talk of banning them in a joke. Contact with the head is already illegal, regardless of the style of tackle or the point of impact. It's a nonsense.

Update here www.dragons.com.au/news-display/ ... port/59927

Update here www.dragons.com.au/news-display/ ... port/59927

This.

Its consistancy.

Its extremely rare to see a player walk (or even yellow carded) for a high shot.

Yet a shoulder charge that hits the head is a sending off.

Very poor from GI. I would expect him to cop a decent ban for that. It wasn't necessary and quite silly.

It's a non issue. A shoulder charge done right is a brilliant thing to watch. Puletua's wasn't even a penalty, he just stood his ground and physically dominated his opponent. There was no evidence at all on the replays they showed on Sky that there was contact with the head and if there was it certainly wasn't Puletua's fault as he didn't jump into it, raise his elbow or dip the shoulder to attack the head.

It just makes me laugh how Ed & Steve were all up in arms about it. The same people who whooped and cheered when countless other players did it in the past. The likes of SBW, Burgess and Morley have made careers out of this style of tackling.

Are you saying the player was knocked out due to an attack to the body? You do realise this isn't physically possible, right?

Shoulder charges are awesome to see - when done properly. It's perfectly possible to smash a guy with a shoulder charge without making contact to the head.
TP's shoulder charge DID make contact with the Catalan's player's head, it was clear to see on the replay so I'm not sure wtf you were watching.
The reason why general high tackles are normally just penalised with a pen as opposed to a red in this case is that a shoulder charge can never be accidental or just an instinctive grab at a player. TP knew the guy was coming and lined him up for it. He got the point of contact wrong and paid the price.

It was a consistent decision as we had seen previously in the season with Sam Moa. Consistency from referees is all you can hope for most of the time.

Indeed.

I'm reminded when Luke Burgess broke his jaw following a shoulder charge to his head at Cas - nothing given.

Good to see they are becoming stricter and more consistent on this now.

I would have thought that it's entirely possible to lose consciousness if the head is whipped back due to an impact with the body?

The Inglis one looked bad but in fairness to him, he was already lining up Dean Young and running at full speed before his team-mate got hold - so to suggest that he lined him up [iafter[/i he was held is a little unfair.

Both Puletua and Inglis look to have got it wrong but from a refereeing perspective, only Mr Thaler got it right.

In general terms, I'd suggest that the shoulder charge is probably legitimate, but the responsibility is firmly on the player executing it to make sure the contact is legal; if it isn't, regardless of intent, outcome or the relative heights of the players involved, then the player making that illegal contact deserves to be penalised.

I don't like 'em. All they do is provide crappy footage for "Big Hits" compilations on youtube. Rugby is about tackling - not being a coward and running in with the shoulder.