Jeez, Shaun Wane looks rough!

A really determined effort in the second half, though, if still alarmingly lacking in polish. Determined defences are *still* pushing us over the touch-line. Can we not learn? Some great efforts in defence from Bateman and Tautai, and Gelling was very good too. Sam looks convincing in the air, but can he ever beat a man again?

[edit] And as Wigg'n points out, if Hull had taken their chances in the first half they could have put us to bed before the interval.

Terrible idea. The game would become a mess

Expand please - you suggest its not a mess now ?

If you allowed ball steals with more than one defender in the tackle the game would become a farce. Teams would kick out of their own half for territory regardless of the tackle count, players would focus on protecting the ball and finding the floor rather than fighting for metres, every other tackle would end with players with their arms round the ball trying to claim possession; forcing the referee having to determine who has possession and whether the ball was stolen before/after the tackle was complete. The game has its flaws but what you are suggesting would be totally unwatchable.

It wasn't unwatchable when ball stealing was allowed with more than one player in the tackle in the past. It was much better. None of your downsides ever occurred. The current rule penalises defenders when the fault often lies with the attacking player for carrying the ball loosely. We see this a lot where players even try to milk penalties or the ref awards one when in fact the attacker just dropped the ball.

If it was just a just a question of refs expecting ball-carriers to take more responsibility for ball security, and calling more 'loose carries', I think most fans would support you in that. I fear what's being suggested would lead to an awful union-style mess, though.