NRL referees have been told to treat high-contact like punching and sin-bin any player who makes direct contact with an opponent's head.
In an extension of the game's heavy crackdown on high shots, players will spend time off the field for any forceful or direct contact with the head or neck.
Send-offs have also been encouraged for particularly forceful contact despite just seven players being marched in the past seven-and-a-half years.
Discretion will remain with the referees, but ARL Commission chairman Peter V'landys confirmed they have been told to enforce the edict.
The decision comes after a rapid rise in high tackles this year.
The number of players charged for contact with the head or neck was up 700 per cent over the opening six rounds compared with the 2017 season.
A total of 14 players were also charged last week, the most on record at the NRL dating back to 1999.
"We will not tolerate any hit above the shoulder, the head or the neck region,'' V'landys told 2GB on Friday.
"Any foul play will be penalised heavily, we're going to get all that out of the game.
"We did that many years ago with punching by using the sin-bin.
"You don't see punching anymore, you don't see spear tackles anymore, you don't see many shoulder charges anymore.
"And we're just as determined to get rid of any knock around the head."
AAP: Joel Carrett
)The NRL took a similar approach with punching in 2013, making it an automatic sin-bin after Paul Gallen's strike on Nate Myles in State of Origin.
The league had told clubs last week there was going to be a crackdown on high shots, encouraging referees to use the sin-bin.
However, that direction fell flat, with just one player sin-binned for high contact despite the record number of charges.
But V'landys said the message was now clear and would be enforced.
"It's never been allowed to hit anyone in the head. Never in the game's history," he said.
"All we need to do now is really enforce it, and we will.
"If it's intentional around the head, we want them to be sin-binned or sent off.
"We don't want players out for weeks on end because of foul play, even accidental play — you do not hit around the head or neck.
"That's not going to be tolerated."
AAP
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-14/nrl-high-hits-to-be-treated-as-punches-sin-bin/100139544
Replies
This could open a can of worms. What if the player falls into a tackle and subsequently collects an arm to the head that was aimed at the chest? The tackler still gets sent to the sin bin?
Yep that's exactly what happens.
Tedesco is now an even better player.
Ricky, is that you?
Politis quiet word with Abdo at BankWest last week has had the desired effect.
The NRL should just call this what it is. The TEDESCO RULE.
This will be an unmitigated disaster and will cost games. Incidental head contact only needs a penalty at most. This is a fast paced, full contact sport and accidents are inevitable.
Now we're going to have players being binned through no fault of their own.
If a player is running at you at pace, you position yourself for the tackle but at the very last moment the player loses their feet there's going to be an accident. But now the NRL are outlawing accidents??
Ive been a fan of V'Landys but he's starting to concern me. He's making drastic, game altering changes without consultation. He's on record as saying if it's not working he'll change it. However I've yet to see an example of him listening to any feedback at all.
I fear this approach will cost team's wins or worse still, finals or even GF games.
Yeah there has been a few knee-jerk reactions from V'Landys. This is where the clubs need a stronger say in how the NRL is run. This could easily depend into chaos. I agree that players need to be better protected, but there are better ways to do this than throwing everyone in the sin bin.
The best response to address this would be to ban NRL top dogs from sitting in the box with Politis
Absolutely!!!
Im hoping JWH gets binned every week because of this rule. That'll learn them.
"At the referees discretion"
This is NRL talk for "sin bin anyone not in a Roosters or Storm jersey"
V'Landys is a flop who is killing the game.
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