Yep - not sure how Sam Walters is supposed to tackle Mikey Lewis. He'll have to army crawl out of the defensive line.

Anyone who thinks this is something we've 'no choice but to accept' needs to give their head a wobble. In fact, I'd go as far as to say they are part of the problem.

We've no choice but to accept the end of the game as we know it.

To hell with that.

Does this 'contact above the shoulders' include a hand-off to the face when in possession of the ball?

SL will have to abide by it in 2025.

We have all these ex players Suing the rfl to thank for this. You know. The ones who apparently didn’t know the risks of playing rugby league. One of which did his very best to smash his forearm into the defenders head everytime he ran the ball in.

Everyone who has played the game knew that they risked injury from a broken leg etc. from which they could recover 99.9% of the time. What not everyone was aware of was the long term impact of repetitive head injuries from which they can't recover. Now the effects are known the sport has a duty of care to past and current players. In future maybe an insurance waiver could be introduced but then it would end up being "Why should the tax payer pay for their treatment; they knew the risks.", a view already taken by some sections of society about smokers and the obese.

Is this move going to offer greater protection to players though? Making defenders go lower increases the chances of catching hips and knees. I honestly think it could increase problems.

All the sit down protocols, extended pre season breaks, concussion subs etc are things we can all get behind but this tackling heigh law? I just can’t go with it and can’t see that it helps.

This was put on the HullFC board

From this;

Nick Fozzard
@Fozzythebear1
I hit sinfield with a very deliberate attack to his head hurting him quite badly giving away a penalty - my captain Nat wood shouted to me, “do it to him again” so I did - I head butted Barrie macdermot & got sent off - & we lost

To this;

Nick Fozzard
@Fozzythebear1
I’m involved in this case to provide for my kids & fiancée when I’m no longer here - I hope you can all relate to that

Can he litigate against himself?

If this is what we have to fear off the ex-players,then we will have no fear and he was always taking the ball in with his elbow up.

They're not exactly the brains of Britain. The problem is that a whole bunch of shifty lawyers are now smelling blood, and I have no confidence in the RFL fighting back against it hard enough.

Make no mistake. The future of the game as we know it is hanging in the balance here.

My worry is that after these changes are enacted and the number of head injuries do not come down what comes next? Very worrying times. I was chatting to a guy about this a few weeks ago and I predicted that the game as we know it will be gone within the next 15 years.
I’m with you in that more injuries could occur due to lower tackling.

It’s vital that any penalty takes into account the actions of the attacking player too.

We cannot look at the defender in isolation.

I watched a couple of games in the Union World Cup where a ball carrier literally head butted a defenders shoulder and the defender was sent from the field.

All the responsibility for the ball carriers safety seems to be on the defender but I think it is vital that a ball carrier is also responsible for their own safety too.

I can think of a couple of players straight away who’ll be perfecting their penalty milking techniques.

If all of this goes through unchallenged, we won't last even 15 years as a professional sport.

The game is already riddled with penalties incurred by accidental (and even soft) contact with the head. Imagine how it will look when penalties are awarded for the same with the shoulder.

It's just not possible to play rugby league under those circumstances.

This whole business is sheer nonsense devised by a bunch of people who have no empathy with the game at all and are jumping on a health concerns bandwagon just to make themselves relevant (and rich).

And it will be at the expense of our game.

The RFL are too thick, too gullible and too chicken###t to push back.

I honestly believe the only future we have now is if SL breaks away.