NRL considers bigger penalties to stamp out hip-drop dangers
Christian Nicolussi and
Adam Pengilly
September 28, 2020 — 7.30pm
Greg Alexander has doubled down on his scathing critique about the dangerous hip-drop tackle, asking: "How many more broken ankles or ligament damage to ankles or knees do we need before we go, 'this isn't good, we better stamp it out'?"
Storm forward Max King was referred straight to the NRL judiciary for a hip-drop during a three-man tackle on St George Illawarra Dragons' rival Blake Lawrie on Sunday.
Andrew Johns was filthy at the Storm for a 'dangerous' tackle
In referring King straight to the judiciary, the NRL escalated its attempts to crack down on the dangerous hip-drop tactic and League HQ may go even further, with NRL head of football Graham Annesley saying they may increase penalties for the judo-style move next year if it continues to occur.
King, who will be represented by lawyer Nick Ghabar at the judiciary on Tuesday night, faces a minimum three-week suspension if found guilty.
King apologised to Lawrie twice during the game and was said to be shattered his 50th NRL game was overshadowed by the incident.
Alexander, the former Kangaroos star turned commentator, was critical about King's effort during FoxSports' broadcast, saying the hip-drop tackle had an "intent to injure".
Max King's hip-drop tackle on Blake Lawrie.Credit:Fox Sports screengrab
That angered Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy, who labelled Alexander's comments as "ridiculous" post-match and said: "I'd very disappointed if any player in the competition goes out to intentionally injure an opposition player".
Storm skipper Cameron Smith conceded the tackle was awkward.
"I know the tackle involved with Maxy didn't look great at all, if anything it was quite clumsy," Smith said. "But it's expected these things are raised at this time of year and it's just unfortunate that incident happened on the eve of the finals."
Alexander refused to back down despite Bellamy's angry response, saying the Melbourne coach was "splitting hairs".
Alexander said Canberra forward Emre Guler and Brisbane's David Fifita had already suffered season-ending ankle injuries because of a hip-drop tackles, and the only way to eradicate the tactic was harsh penalties.
"The player making that tackle had total disregard for the welfare of the bloke with the ball," Alexander said.
"I know he's not thinking at that split second, 'I want to injure this player, but he knows the tackle has a huge chance of doing exactly what happened to Emre Guler or even Blake Lawrie who had to leave the field.
"It's only by the grace of God he [Lawrie] didn't break his ankle.
"I remember saying this about the crusher tackle three years ago and how it was the worst tackle in the game. It took a while for us to think, 'shit, this is a bad tackle'.
"How many more broken ankles or ligament damage to ankles or knees do we need to go, 'this isn't good, we better stamp it out'?
"The crusher tackles and hip drops, you can tell the ones which are intentional. The only way you do that is by making the penalties bigger."
Asked whether the NRL could increase base penalties similarly to the crusher tackle crackdown, Annesley said: "Most definitely. I'd prefer the message was getting through a little louder and clearer.
"I'm not suggesting these things are coached, but sometimes trends emerge in our game. We'll review it at the end of the year and if we feel the penalties need to be stronger for this type of tackle we'll address that.
"We'll try to examine why it's happening, just as we have with crusher tackles. If we feel having done that analysis that the only way to try to prevent certain practices from taking place is to use a heavier hand through the match review and judicial process, then that's what we'll do.
"We're not doing it to punish players, we're doing it to keep players safer."
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/nr...amp-out-hip-drop-dangers-20200928-p55zyu.html
