Edit :- Sorry mods, didn't realise it was already being discussed in the Penrith thread. Feel free to delete. Phew https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/68341481 Interested to see what the Hull FC prop gets. 10 matcher for me that.

Edit :- Sorry mods, didn't realise it was already being discussed in the Penrith thread. Feel free to delete. Phew https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/68341481 Interested to see what the Hull FC prop gets. 10 matcher for me that.

Talk in the media that Superleague players are starting to throw around the idea of going on strike if the disciplinary decisions and the new rules from 2025 onwards aren't looked at. I doubt it would come to that but I do hope the players are listened to and they can get around a table with the powers that be. It's a huge shame that a dedicated players Union isn't already in place to help in that regard.

Without a union I suspect the chance of a strike is almost zero unless the disciplinary decisions go even more extreme. I’ve joked about the “Wigan” decisions but some of them eg the Crowther one are bizarre in the extreme.

Yeah, they're not going to get a strike off the ground without first getting a players Union set up. Walmsley mentioned how Clint Newton spoke to the GB players on the tour of 2019 about how one could be set up but nobody has taken the bull by the horns since. Maybe Walmsley himself fancies it (he does like to try and make officials decisions on the field, so he could transfer those skills...couldn't resist) but whoever leads it, I just hope they can get something going and at least start to add some push back. Nobody is asking for open season on dangerous play but there has to be some common sense applied. There is no way on this earth that Watts and Micky Macs challenges were worthy of missing a 5th of the league season.

Totally agree with you. I don’t want to “bring the biff back” I just want some common sense and consistency applied. My other worry as I’ve stated previously is what will the game do if/when the changes do not reduce the number of head injuries?

They're getting so much better at spotting the signs of concussion that I can't see how cases will go down regardless of rule changes. I look at the below armpit rules and can see more concussions for defenders hitting knees and hips. I look at all the bans being handed out and can see clubs with smaller squads having to draft in young players who aren't yet ready for mens rugby and that causes it's own problems. The lads on the Wigan Way podcast raised a great point about Harry Smiths tackle. He gets nice and low as they would want but as bodies collide, there will be a natural throwing motion in some cases, so you then can't win either way.

I can see the need for more on field sanctions so we're seen to be cracking down but to punish people on the field and then throw big bans at them for incidents of accidental contacts seems extremely harsh and OTT.

I said after the weekend that it almost needs to be a 'one or the other' solution. Either tougher on field or off field but not both. My preference would be tougher on field as these long bans for incidents that don't merit it are ultimately going to be counter productive as mentioned above. Apart from which it's going to ruin the game for the fans too who want to see the stars of the game on the field not sat in the stands.

More red cards, more young inexperienced players not quite ready for FT professional rugby and as many if not more head injuries isn’t going to be a great result. The rfl and referees really need to talk to the players sooner rather than later. All the talk is negative re disciplinary issues rather than record crowds and increased access to all matches.

There's always discussion around teams not getting any advantage from foul play on game day and teams then benefiting the week after when a ban is issued

Sadly, I think there's more likely to be a fans' strike.

For the first time I can remember, I'm contemplating life after rugby league, and it might be coming as soon as the 2025 season. This is not guaranteed, but I'm not joking either.

This drift towards trying to make safe a game that is inherently unsafe is totally ridiculous. The focus should be on stamping out clear and unambiguous foul play (not inflicting draconian punishments for accidental contacts), and then trying the participants up legally with regard to their knowing the game is dangerous and being prepared to play it anyway, at their own risk.

Is there a chance of a ‘breakaway’ game where we literally reset the whole thing, call it League 13 or whatever, new contracts acknowledging the risk of playing with the current knowledge we have on brain injury etc? You can’t sue the ‘game’ if it isn’t the game so to speak.

I thought I was on my own in thinking 2024 could be my last as a rugby league fan. Looking through here and across other clubs' boards it seems its a potentially very high number. How sad, but I can't and won't adapt to rules of tackling below the armpit. Might as well play tag rugby if that's how it's going to be. I wonder if the RFL big wigs and club officials are taking note of the potential mass drop off. I know for a fact people high up in Wigan read the boards. A certain former head coach who is still in the club certainly does. How can they willingly destroy the game so ruthlessly because of air heads like Bobby Goulding who was an absolute gobe

I’ve always enjoyed your posting Cruncher and sadly I am in total agreement.

Games been going to the dogs for about 10 years.

The constant removal of aggression has reached a state whereby it’s now farcical.

We used to pride ourselves on the game being gladiatorial and the ‘toughest sport on two legs’

It’s not that anymore and so many entertainment factors beyond tries being scored have been removed from the sport. It’s become really, really boring at times sadly.

The behaviour of players to simulate and feign injury is a hard watch for me. It’s simply not how men should behave.

The big worry I have it what that means at international level (should we actually be allowed by the NRL to play any proper games going forward). There is no doubt the game in this country is being changed in a big way but that isn't the case in the NRL. In my lifetime watching GB/England verses the Aussies and Kiwis, you've been able to say those sides are more skilful than us but you'd never say they're tougher than us and that we couldn't cope with them in an aggressive contest but when we're playing to such different rules, were they have State of Origin and high end league fixtures being played with far more leeway and their players are conditioned to that, we could get absolutely blown away in every facet of the game.

You look at this game on Saturday and more leeway will be given on the contact heights. There will be zero adjustment needed for Penrith but our lads will now be playing under different rules. You could say it's happy days as our lads can now go higher but presumably they've been working on their techniques to avoid that for months on end now and it's as easy as just switching it on and off. As a country we're putting ourselves at a big disadvantage in these type of contests.

The resulting international chaos seems to me to be only one of many things that haven't been considered.

The last minute fudge with the Penrith game is 100% proof of that. But as you say, we won't be able to fudge it in World Cups or Test series that are further down the line, as too much time will then have gone for our players to adapt back to playing the real thing.

So, if 2025 goes ahead as planned, it will certainly be the end of international RL ... at least where British players are concerned, which most likely will have a domino effect on the domestic game, probably in due course at amateur level as well as professional (which will be much sooner).

I hear what people say about trying to reduce head injuries. It's a serious matter. But heavy contact between athletes is a fundamental aspect of rugby league football. There is simply no way round that. No one is supposed to get hurt, but accidents are accidents, and you can't prevent them happening in a sport like this by threatening draconian punishments. The only way to guarantee there'll be no injuries is to ban the game, which is what they are effectively doing ... but only, very mysteriously, in the UK.

If the RFL are insistent on trying to eradicate risk - and it can only be risk to themselves (in other words, to ensure they won't have to pay out big compensation) - the only way forward, as I see it, is to try and establish some kind of legally sound contract for players, whereby they accept a personal risk if they're going to participate. Surely it can't be impossible to do that? There are many other dangerous sports in the world, which involve potential head injuries - NFL, NRL, ice hockey, boxing, MMA - I just don't understand why it's only us who are facing this threat.