The Australian Rugby League Commission has made the extraordinary decision to ban the shoulder charge at all levels of the NRL from 2013. After reviewing a detailed report into shoulder charges it deemed that they pose an unacceptable risk in the game.
Reviewing some of the statistics that have been highlighted by the ARLC is it really that big a problem?
Statistcs noted are as follows:
Shoulder charges made up .05% of tackles in 2012.
So of the 142,355 tackles there were 71 shoulder charges. In the NRL season there were 201 matches which equates to one shoulder charge every 2.8 games.
5% of shoulder charges resulted in injury to either the defensive (1%) or the offensive (less than 4%) player.
So of the 71 shoulder charges effectively 4 tackles caused injury. 1 to a defensive player and 3 to an attacking player. One could argue that more players are injured due to poor ground conditions.
Essentially the ARLC has imposed a ban on a tackle that occurs every 2.8 games and results in injury every 40th game played. Rugby League is a high impact game where big hits are a large part of what draws the crowd. Has it made a rash decision to stamp out a play that it could have just imposed suspensions for high contact when it occurred. Whilst the safety of players needs to be paramount the ARLC also needs to ensure that it doesn't change the fabric of the game in the process. I can't see the ARLC getting too many supporters or players on their side with this decision even it is a tackle that occurs very rarely.
For a more detailed look into the shoulder charge ban go to my article on Armchair Selector -
Shoulder Charge Bane - Proactive or Reactive?
I have no view on whether shoulder charges should be banned or not, but you cant claim on one hand its what brings in the fans and at the same time say it only happens 0.5% of the tackles in a season
ReplyDeleteFair point but I was referring to big hits in general and shoulder charges are a part of that. The worry is if they start here where will they stop. If players are worried about a shirt front tackle being classified as a shoulder charge then you will not see many hits that sell the game on highlight packages.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input.
Kieron there is far less chance of winning lotto than getting hit and maybe injured by a shoulder charge and yet people are lining up every week to buy a lotto ticket! Yes fans do turn up for the odd chance of big hits/shoulder charges, especially State of Origin and grudge matches. I for one have lined up for origin and lotto!!
ReplyDelete