The ‘sad’ reality in NRL’s hip-drop debate... and warning from 17 years ago

The NRL has been urged to take stronger action in a bid to eradicate hip-drops from the game after Panthers superstar Nathan Cleary became the latest player to fall victim to the tackle.

Get the expert take on NRL Grand Final Day with FOX LEAGUE’s extensive coverage, plus full and mini replays available post-game on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

WHAT'S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.

Cleary suffered a serious compound fracture of the ankle as a result of an ugly tackle from Phoenix Crossland, who was banned for four games by the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night.

The NRL’s counsel argued to the judiciary that it had to send a “very serious message” to protect players in the wake of Cleary’s injury, but the NRL 360 panel questioned if even more needs to be done to stamp out the tackle.

To prove that point, foxsports.com.au’s Paul Crawley pulled up vision of an illegal tackle which saw former Tigers winger Taniela Tuiaki retire from the game.

Tuiaki suffered a sickening ankle injury in Round 24 of the 2009 season and despite undergoing three operations he was unable to return to the field.

“That was in 2009 and it resulted in a compound fracture that ruined this bloke’s career,” Crawley said.

“That’s the same tackle that we’re seeing today, 17 years later. We’ve had all this opportunity. We’ve known how dangerous it is. There’s so many players injured by this tackle.

“And yet, on the weekend, we had Nathan’s one and we all see it as an accident and it is. It’s a terrible, terrible accident and I don’t think it’s intentional, right?

“But you had a similar tackle and this is where I reckon the NRL has made a rod for its own back because do we want to stamp this tackle out or do we want to only stamp it out when there’s a serious injury?”

Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!

Again, Crawley had the receipts as he pointed to Victor Radley’s tackle on Herbie Farnworth which only resulted in the Roosters forward picking up a fine.

Crawley said he believed the Radley incident was a “more traditional hip drop tackle” but only resulted in a penalty at the time because the Dolphins centre was quick to get back to his feet.

Radley hit with huge hip drop concern | 00:31

He also mentioned the decision to downgrade Nicho Hynes’ dangerous contact charge in September last year after the ankle injury suffered by Marcelo Montoya was revealed to not be as severe as first thought.

“This is where I’m saying when the Bunker is talking about force, it’s almost impossible to know if it’s actually always the force that’s causing the injuries because all these tackles can be so potentially dangerous,” Crawley said.

“So surely what we’ve got to do is find a way to get rid of the tackle.”

With that in mind, Crawley called for the introduction of a black-and-white rule.

“If you really want to get rid of this like they did with punching and the melees and everything the starting point has to be a sin bin and from there the match review committee will work out how many weeks the suspensions are,” he said.

“Otherwise it all continues.”

CODE Sports reporter David Riccio agreed, saying it was “sad” that it took a superstar like Cleary getting injured for the rugby league world to have a more serious conversation about hip-drop tackles.

Riccio was concerned with the Bunker “playing doctor” and while in the case of Cleary it was obvious that he had suffered a season-ending injury, it isn’t always easy to tell if that is the case.

In fact, sometimes the severity of the injury is not even known when the match review committee hands down its findings as was the case with Penrith hooker Mitch Kenny.

Initial scans confirmed an eight-to-12 week sideline stint for Kenny but complications in his recovery meant the Panthers hooker didn’t return until after 19 weeks.

Does the injury matter? Send off debate | 02:06

“Izzy Katoa suffered a two-week ban for a 19-week injury. You just don’t know,” Riccio said.

Riccio also brought up the season-ending ACL tear J’maine Hopgood suffered as a result of a Ryan Couchman tackle which saw the Dragons forward banned for four weeks, arguing that “longer suspensions are the only way”.

The entire NRL 360 panel, however, agreed suspensions should not exactly match the length of recovery for the victim of hip-drop tackles.

As for finding potential solutions, former Broncos legend Gorden Tallis said it all comes down to tackle technique.

“The reason why this tackle is happening because you’re not allowed to drive your shoulder into their legs and put them on the ground anymore because that was spearing in,” he said.

“That was cannonball. One-on-one you can but very rarely you get one-on-one tackles well. So now they hit with their body... it comes down to the whole technique, and it’s never going to be out of the game until they let you drive back in with your shoulders.”