Re: Corey Johnson & others : Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:55 am  

Fair play. Takes a lot of maturity and courage to make that call. No one should be pressured into making a career in pro RL. The way these blokes are putting their bodies on the line is astounding!

Re: Corey Johnson & others : Tue Jan 26, 2021 4:46 pm  

exiledrhino wrote:

Fair play. Takes a lot of maturity and courage to make that call. No one should be pressured into making a career in pro RL. The way these blokes are putting their bodies on the line is astounding!

Thanks all for the input! And good luck to him!

But, for purely selfish reasons, I hope there won't be too many more of our future stars who make the same decision! Hopefully we can keep the game and the club attractive (and safe) enough to make the whole thing worthwhile for youngsters and future stars...

Re: Corey Johnson & others : Tue Jan 26, 2021 5:04 pm  

MillennialRhino wrote:

Thanks all for the input! And good luck to him!

But, for purely selfish reasons, I hope there won't be too many more of our future stars who make the same decision! Hopefully we can keep the game and the club attractive (and safe) enough to make the whole thing worthwhile for youngsters and future stars...

Completely agree. The best way to do this is to majorly clamp down on dangerous play. We saw in the Catalan game just how the referees completely lose their bottle when punishing players for fowl play. More red cards and higher bans for head height tackles. Like it or not, kids copy big hits, and what happens in SL filters down to all levels.

I'd be interested to see where banning the shoulder charge has made a difference with this. In my view, you don't see any less high tackles.

Re: Corey Johnson & others : Tue Jan 26, 2021 5:36 pm  

exiledrhino wrote:

Completely agree. The best way to do this is to majorly clamp down on dangerous play. We saw in the Catalan game just how the referees completely lose their bottle when punishing players for fowl play. More red cards and higher bans for head height tackles. Like it or not, kids copy big hits, and what happens in SL filters down to all levels.

I'd be interested to see where banning the shoulder charge has made a difference with this. In my view, you don't see any less high tackles.

Unrealistic for refs to be any harsher
We anyway have this ridiculous disciplinary panel, that make bizarre decisions.
I actually think refs need to be easier on players. It's a brutal game, and everyone involved knows that. Physival intimidation is part of the game, and why we love it.

Re: Corey Johnson & others : Tue Jan 26, 2021 5:42 pm  

exiledrhino wrote:

Completely agree. The best way to do this is to majorly clamp down on dangerous play. We saw in the Catalan game just how the referees completely lose their bottle when punishing players for fowl play. More red cards and higher bans for head height tackles. Like it or not, kids copy big hits, and what happens in SL filters down to all levels.

I'd be interested to see where banning the shoulder charge has made a difference with this. In my view, you don't see any less high tackles.

Yes I felt like I agreed with Brian Mc's interpretation on this. It was not the prop-on-prop shoulder-to-shoulder shoulder charge that was the issue, it was the head-high shoulder charges (on half-backs in particular).

It seems like the powers that be successfully got rid of shoulder charges from the game but have failed to get rid of head-high tackles/charges!

Re: Corey Johnson & others : Tue Jan 26, 2021 8:37 pm  

Shabino wrote:

Unrealistic for refs to be any harsher
We anyway have this ridiculous disciplinary panel, that make bizarre decisions.
I actually think refs need to be easier on players. It's a brutal game, and everyone involved knows that. Physival intimidation is part of the game, and why we love it.

I find alot of your posts bizzare but this one takes the biscuit !

Re: Corey Johnson & others : Tue Jan 26, 2021 8:55 pm  

ploinerrhino wrote:

I find alot of your posts bizzare but this one takes the biscuit !

Huh? I'm saying it's a brutal sport. Tackles are going to get mistimed when 18 stone tired men run flat out at each other. What do you wabt to see? Sendings off in every game?

Re: Corey Johnson & others : Tue Jan 26, 2021 9:13 pm  

Shabino wrote:

Huh? I'm saying it's a brutal sport. Tackles are going to get mistimed when 18 stone tired men run flat out at each other. What do you wabt to see? Sendings off in every game?

I certainly do not want refs not to be harsher , everyone talking about the ref in the Catalan game and you come up with that !

Re: Corey Johnson & others : Tue Jan 26, 2021 10:13 pm  

exiledrhino wrote:

Completely agree. The best way to do this is to majorly clamp down on dangerous play. We saw in the Catalan game just how the referees completely lose their bottle when punishing players for fowl play. More red cards and higher bans for head height tackles. Like it or not, kids copy big hits, and what happens in SL filters down to all levels.

I'd be interested to see where banning the shoulder charge has made a difference with this. In my view, you don't see any less high tackles.

are they chicken

Re: Corey Johnson & others : Wed Jan 27, 2021 7:49 am  

The refereeing in the Cats game was bordering on negligent at times; but it could and should have been done better within the existing rules of the game.

Agree re, shoulder charge - I miss them. It isn’t the notion that’s the problem, it’s when the shoulder is applied to the head which is foul play anyway. That one is a case of baby and bath water for me.

The Leeds - Canterbury WCC game comes to mind. SBW was immense and that’s what you want to see.

There is a bubbling issue over head injury, and it could likely get worse. Rugby of either code is a contact sport and head injury happens - the majority of the time concussions are unintentional and you can’t just legislate them out of the game. Sometimes it’s poor technique by the ball carrier actually (e.g. turning back to opposition line and pressing on, putting the defender behind the head).

It’s just a balance isn’t it of making the game as safe as we responsibly can, whilst still having a contact sport at all.