Results 1 to 4 of 4
  1. #1
    Super Moderator TITAN PETE's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    SKILLED PARK S5
    Posts
    10,929

    Default Storm want clarity on lifting

    By Ian McCullough, Angela Habashy and Darren Walton
    AAP
    6:41pm Wed 09th April, 2014


    Melbourne have urged the NRL to clarify the ruling on lifting tackles after opting not to appeal Jordan McLean's seven-match ban following the career-ending injury to Newcastle back-rower Alex McKinnon.

    NRL chief Dave Smith reiterated head of football Todd Greenberg's line that the code would not make any knee-jerk reactions in regards to outlawing lifting tackles mid-season.

    "We're looking very carefully at the specific incident which was a tragic incident," Smith told AAP on Wednesday.

    "In the background of course we're looking at all the data around these types of tackles but you won't see an over reaction from us.

    "What you will see is us carefully consider what's taken place, carefully analyse the data, not just from that specific incident but more broadly as well and make a fact-based decision.

    "Once we've got all that information if there's a requirement to change the rules we will."

    Storm officials were bemused by the decision of the match review committee to not sanction Gold Coast hooker Beau Falloon for lifting Will Chambers above the horizontal in last Sunday's clash at AAMI Park.

    Match review committee chief Michael Buettner acknowledged Chambers had been lifted, but said he wasn't put in a dangerous position by Falloon, who didn't have his hands between his legs, and the centre was able to get his hand on the ground to break his fall.

    Melbourne CEO Mark Evans said the Storm supported the current debate surrounding lifting tackles, which he said was necessary "given the ambiguity" in the NRL rules.

    But, he added, any debate should be conducted with "respect and perspective" due to the serious nature of McKinnon's injury.

    "The current code conflates lifting tackles with dangerous throws, which is confusing players, coaches, commentators and fans alike," Evans said.

    "When it comes to the grading of offences, taking injury into account is fine, as long as it is the result of an unambiguous and direct causal relationship between the offence and injury sustained - currently that is not how the code is worded."

    Melbourne's representative back-rower Ryan Hoffman said players were in favour of making the game safe, but doesn't want lifting taken out of the game.

    "I don't think they should be banned, we just need more consistency and clarification on what is the legal part of a lifting tackle," Hoffman said.

    "We know as players we can't lift a player and put him in a dangerous position but we can lift a player and put him on the ground as long as it's not in a dangerous position.

    "You have to be able to get a player off balance, a lot of the time we are not trying to lift a player up, we are just lifting up one leg to put them on the ground.

    "The NRL has stated that it's our responsibility to not put players into a dangerous position, that's our role and we have to ensure we are doing that."

    South Sydney superstar Greg Inglis, who was dumped on his head by a spear tackle from Canterbury's Krisnan Inu said he was comfortable with the current guidelines.

    "You can police it as much as you want but, at the end of the day, they (the NRL) are not out there within that split second in the tackle," Inglis told AAP.

    "So in the end, rules are in place and it gets dealt with - and it gets dealt with accordingly."
    #itaintweaktospeak

  2. #2
    One Clubman Ryan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    On the run......
    Posts
    3,417

    Default

    I was away when the Alex McKinnon tackle happened, so I haven't read any of the threads on this forum about it either.

    Although I saw no particular malice and intent in what ended up happening with McKinnon, I think it's so ironic that it was the Melbourne Storm who ended up breaking someone's neck. I said it so many times over the years that "it's only a matter of time", and "what's it going to take?", in regards to their constant introductions of tackling techniques that deliberately targeted players crucial ligaments. In particular the "crusher tackle" that actually targeted the very vertebrae that has Alex facing paralysis, and was obviously trained and practised as a team, as Andrew Voss once (unarguably) pointed out using video footage.

    I think it's a bit rich that the Storm criticise ambiguity in the rules when it's what they've constantly exploited over the years whilst blatantly disregarding player safety. With the time and resources they've obviously spent on human movement, they should know better than anyone what a dangerous position is.

    Now here we are, with a good young man facing serious paralysis....
    I hope like **** that the "Human Decency Bug" bites the Storm as a club, and they finally give up on the constant introductions of un-sportsman like and ethically disgusting tactics. Hopefully this is their wakeup call, and for all the other clubs that also adopted their ****. ...
    The girl from the ring watched a highlights reel of Greg Bird, she died 7 days later.....


  3. #3
    Coach C-Whiz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Nerang, Gold Coast
    Posts
    3,859

    Default

    All I really get out of this is the Storm would like to know how they can find new and dangerous ways to slow down the play the ball, while not being penalised for it. It's not new, they've been doing it for years with lots of creative ways to bend body parts into unatural positions. The sad part of the Storm is most team, players, coaches and fans look to them as the benchmark that other teams/coaches/players should be aiming to emulate.

    Anyway, the simplest way to circumvent the lifting dilemma would be to introduce the same restictions as the stripping rule. Quite simply, more than 1 in the tackle, no lifting. If it's one on one, get low, shoulder into the soft belly/lower rib cage, drive hard and try to take the wind out of them, their feet come off the ground, they have no momentum, and most of the time they will end up on their backs. That will slow them down in the play the ball while they try to get air back into their lungs and no necks will be damaged. More often than not they will end up on their backs, which is what the Storm introduced wrestling was all about in the first place. Please feel free to pass this onto the Storm. Gilly might be able to help them with this. It will save them a fortune on wrestling and BJJ coaches.

  4. #4
    Immortal Titanic's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Next door to Alice
    Posts
    10,506

    Default

    Title should read "Storm want clarity on how to lift their skirts".
    Four reasons to escape to Queensland: Sun, Surf, Sand & the Titans.


Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

ABOUT US

    Established in 2005 as the Gold Coast Titans official Chat Forum, we are now known as the League of Titans Independent Website. A place for fans of the Gold Coast Titans to come and touch base with other diehard fans.

QUICK LINKS

FOLLOW US ON

League of Titans designed and cutomised by Matt Glew