In 2013 reacted to "the shoulder charge gone wrong" involving Greg Inglis and Dean Young. The banned the shoulder charge from the game using it as the scapegoat for concussions in Rugby League.
This week I have witnessed Nathan Peats, Isaac Degois, James Segeyaro, Jonathon Thurston, James Maloney and Mitchell Pearce all suffer suspected concussions. All of these are "little men" of the game, this is not a coincidence.
As a smaller man myself a very similar build to IDG I used to play league in the middle third, I never really used a shoulder charge as aggressive tackle but I did occasionally use it to protect myself. The key for a little man in the middle 3rd, is line speed as you need to get a big man before he gets his speed up, IDG and Nathan are a good example of this.
Unfortunately you can't always control when and where a big guy will get the football, So if they do get up a head of speed the collision is really going to favour them and the impact on the smaller player is huge. In those instances from personal experiences I would use a "defensive shoulder charge" I would brace with my shoulder to protect myself and hopefully slow the guy down for a team mate to takedown.
This option has been taken away with the banning of the shoulder charge and what we are seeing are smaller players having lean further forward and put their heads places they should not be while trying to use their arms, they have no choice but to knock themselves out.
Chris Sandow is a bad concussion waiting to happen, you can see how much the rule change has effected his game. So with all the hysteria with shoulder charge being the devil, the concussions are still happening and I fear what kneejerk reaction the NRL are going to do next.
The world of NRL has gone crazy, a simple truck driver, a taxi driver, a aerial skier, a jockey, a mixed martial artist, a soldier , a police officer, fire-fighters and many more professions face a bigger risk of death and serious injury then a NRL player.
They get payed excellent money to play rugby league and there are risks involved, but please I've had enough of these precious NRL players and commentators. Ask a doctor if they think a car should be speed limited to a 100km, of course they would say yes it should! Ask a doctor if smoking should be completely outlawed, once again they would say yes.
The NRL independent commission is proving to be a weaker administration then it predecessor and the media, lawyers, agents and doctors have more influence over the game then the commission itself.
Replies
Great write up Parody go get the Bastards, unfortunately in today's society people like you and I and some others on this site are seen as Neanderthals because of our opinions,in their eye's it is a softly softly world where everybody should be wrapped up in cotton wool
Thanks mate, it's just really getting hard to watch the game get stripped of it's most appealing qualities. What makes rugby league what it is, is the risk, without that risk there is no room for courage, bravery and heart! with out those traits there can be no heroes. There is plenty of choice in non contact sports available to follow or support if you don't like brutality, but please leave rugby league to the people that do.