Oh and BTW They were discussing a few other rules that already exist and they are considering enforcing more strictly, out of coincidence these guys seem to be discussing a few of them on here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=487481

Oh and BTW They were discussing a few other rules that already exist and they are considering enforcing more strictly, out of coincidence these guys seem to be discussing a few of them on here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=487481

Will this apply to the international game? Yet another backward step,

I used to watch every Wigan game a year, but now it's only a handful due to a 2 hour commute, and the nambyfication of the game. Don't want anyone to deliberately injure someone, but FFS, RL is a physical game, let's not forget that, I don't recall any injuries being claimed from these tackle techniques? Educate me if I'm wrong, with examples.

If the refs could control the ptb, then of course none of it would happen.

Think Dave Kidwell was either injured or injured someone with a chicken wing and that seemed to kick it all off.

Thanks Conroy,

Nerve touch duly noted.

You're not really telling anyone anything there that isn't already public knowledge on other forums and started this thread. I was merely making the point that while some keep confidences, some like to publicise the fact they know something in a I know but I'm not going to tell you attention seeking way, they really should have got out of their system at Junior school.

One rule that needs changing is kicking out of bounds on the 5th tackle..instead of taking it from the 20 it should be from where the kicker kicked it from IMO..unless its inside the 20.

No, it's fighting as opposed to something that happened during play. I think the difference is obvious and so if they class wrestling or a grapple tackle as foul play then theoretically they can't be sin bin offences.

They fact they may now be ought to mean all other aspects of foul play could be a sin bin.

If they were to become so then in theory we could see head high tackles as sin bins. A good thing? Better than "on report"? No idea.

FWIW I also smell a Hethrington. It's been a toss up for some time who is worse for RL , him (her) or Nigel Wood.

Mind you if these changes are at the behest of some RL club chairmen, surely that is wrong in itself? Rules should not be changed or enforced differently on the whim of club chairmen.

The good thing about wigan is that we are always one step ahead of the game! I remember last year at the open training session before the final we had an RFL qualified ref reffing the training drills involving ruck play and defence. Brilliant idea because the players will have some of these pedantic rules drilled into their heads

I wouldn't be bothered if the games where reffed consistantly refering to these tackles but we all know it won't be! It just seems to me that the British game doesn't want to advance, the aussies have been defending aggressively for years and focusing on the ruck.

The moment coaches bring it over here ie brown and madge, certain coaches and CEO's throw their bottles out of the pram because their teams quick PTB tactics are nulified.

I have this vision in my mind of the two Hethertingtons engaged in a long, deep discussion with their close neighbours at Red Hall, with Wigan the main topic on the agenda.

I'm not saying that's what happened, but it's a potent image, isn't it?

Let's face it, neither of them would have anything to lose. Mrs Hetherington has several times been shown the the almost micoscopic extent of her abilities, and, if she's the sort of person I suspect she is, might well seek to pass the blame elsewhere (a habit that has clearly rubbed off on her pipsqueak of a coach). Mr. Hetherington may now be realising that his time in the sun - which occurred briefly during the demise of one real team, St Helens, and the rise of another, Wigan, is already over - and doesn't like it one bit.

However, I doubt very much whether Ian Lenagan or Eamon McManus, should they feel the need to have a whinge about other clubs, would get much more than a polite hearing at the RFL, and certainly not the implementation of a whole new set of rules (if indeed, that is what's happened).

There used to be a phrase in Rugby League during the days prior to Mo taking over and finally dragging the game into the 20th century - 'the Yorkshire mafia'. Do we suspect it's now up and running again?

It'll be interesting to see how much difference this directive makes to the ways referees operate over the coming weeks. As Luke Robinson (the journalist's friend) pointed out in his interview, these disgraceful Wigan tactics are difficult for referees to spot. It certainly makes their jobs a lot harder - does holding a knee joint in the tackle qualify as 'working' the joint?

I agree with others - this move stinks of Hetherington. He had very thinly-veiled pops at Wigan during last season and pre-season.

Wonder what the Hetheringtons will ask for next? For him: head-high shots and ball stealing no longer count as penalties. For her: a 20 'start' on the opposition so they can actually win a game.

I think you're probably right about the Yorkshire mafia, Cruncher.

As far as McManus goes, well the days of the early-mid noughties when Saints could have 20 internationals in their squad as a result of aggressive management of the SC (with them being punished every year for merely "technical" breaches) seem very distant now. Saints seemed to be an exception to the Yorkshire bias in RL, but those days have gone.

The apparent Yorkshire bias is also shown in the franchising system - how Wakefield in particular are still in the SL is beyond me. Widnes' treatment is disgraceful IMO. You can't exclude Widnes on the basis of poor financial management by the former owners and board (ignoring the new owners' financial backing and business credentials - the owner is not only a millionaire but a main board director of a listed plc!) and yet allow Wakefield in with a very weak business case and stadium plans that were pie in the sky.

The only note of caution I would inject into a debate about RFL bias is that I think much of what goes on is cock-up rather than conspiracy. I don't think the RFL are capable of any kind of organised conspiracy, because that would require a degree of competence.

This came directly from a senior person at the rfl who now no longer works there that 'they were extremely p*ssed off that they had been made to look stupid by wigan 'getting round the cap' but not actually breaking any rules, so for the sake of their credibility with the other clulbs they had to do something'...............

It all came down to them saving face.

I don't think there's many that would disagree with that!

They do seem to make idiocy into an art form.

That'll be a tackle BY a Wigan player and not a tackle ON a Wigan player.