Williams escapes punishment

[Willow]

According to today's media Sonny Bill Williams has not been charged for his part in a dangerous tackle on Colin Best. The incident was in the second half at Kogarah last Friday. It was a lifting tackle well above the horizontal with a hand between the legs. It looked pretty clear cut to me.

In my opinion there is no doubt it was dangerous. Reckless or at the very least careless.

Its bizarre that some players are being charged while others are walking free. I can't help but wonder if it'll take a broken neck before the League shows some consistency.

For anyone else who saw it, what did you think?

 

[Southernsaint]

It deserved a holiday, there has been a precedent, but Sonny Bill is a marketable player for the NRL in the lead up to the Finals.

Or maybe he just had no-one to drive him to the Judiciary on Wednesday night??

 

[gregstar]

i didn't think there was much in it at the time. but susequent images such as that photo willow make me wonder why he wasn't given a low grade charge.

 

[millersnose]

it was a dangerous tackle

very f**king dangerous

but sbw is the upcoming poster child of RL and politics has its effect

 

[Saint 60]

Best didnt look to happy on his back...

holiday at coffs for SBW....1 - 2 weeks..
good behaviour...fttt only reason y is he aint played in so dam long thro injury....grrrr

 

[Willow]

i didn't think there was much in it at the time. but susequent images such as that photo willow make me wonder why he wasn't given a low grade charge.

The other angle looks even worse. I was trying to get some moving footage of it but my computer had a memory cark. I'll have another go later.

 

[Southernsaint]

I wouldn’t mind seeing a “compare and contrast” between the SBW tackle and the one Coops got a holiday for…

 

[Willow]

lol. I have to admit that crossed my mind. Same ground, similar conditions.

The Cooper one was largely missed but the MRC nailed it afterwards, obviously convinced it filled the criteria of what constitutes dangerous play.

The Williams 'spear' was replayed numerous times and even placed on report. They didnt even need Rohan's help.

 

[Moffo]

wasn't dangerous at all, he landed on his f**king back!

 

[Willow]

Moffo, put the troll gun away for a moment and think, if you can. Sonny Bill's hand was between the legs and Best's body went above the horizontal. You do know the rules surely. Weren't you at least a little bit surprised that he got away with it?

 

[Pando]

According to the paper today, SBW wouldn't have missed any time even if he'd been charged and found/pleaded guilty due to his good record.

Rules is rules. Get over it.

 

[Willow]

You missed the point of the thread.

 

[Pando]

Hiya Willow, nice to see you again.

No, I didn't miss the point of the thread. I fully agree that spear tackles should be punished.
That SBW wasn't charged is not his fault, and if he had been charged and found guilty, yet still wasn't given a holiday due to the points system the judiciary uses, wasn't his fault either.

 

[Southernsaint]

Pando, even if he didn't miss a match, being charged would've given him some deserved carry-over points and affected his "clean record" for the next time he spears someone...

 

[Willow]

I'm aware he is the darling of Canterbury. But it could be anyone. Some fans tend to defend their players even if they're axe murderers. But that's not the point here.

The issue is definitely to do with the powers that be, in particular the MRC and their inconsistency.

I don't care about Williams in particular and it has nothing to do with how many demerit points he has. He certainly would have earned a few if it got to the judiciary, which it should have. And I have raised this issue before when other players got off lightly for this type of tackle. It just happened to be Williams this week.

Bottom line is that it was a tackle which came too close to becoming a spear tackle. Therefore, it was dangerous. How it was deemed to be not dangerous is the debate.

I want the game to be as tough as possible. But surely we want it legal and we don't want players getting their necks busted. And I know sh*t happens and that's part and parcel of it all. But when it goes without the player being even so much as charged, then we run the risk of seeing a dozen such tackles the following week.

IMO, it looked bad at the game. Later on TV it looked worse to me. Dumb Gus was going on about how 'in the old days that would have been a considered a good hard tackle... nowadays they put it on report.' What a load of crap. In the old days there was less scrutiny and coat hangers and spear tackles were running rampant. Players careers were being cut short and parents were making their kids play soccer or Aussie Rules. We can do better than to go back to that.

And nice to see you again Pando. You've not got your ^ anymore...?

 

[Moffo]

how many tackles do you see where the hands go between the legs? the only ones that get punished is where they get dumped on their head.

Perhaps this isn't right, but its the rule of the land

 

[Pando]

LOL. No ^ these days.
I agree that these tackles should be stamped out of the game. Players tend to have a fairly short lifespan as it is, unless they're a "superstar".
The fact is that the judiciary didn't see fit to charge SBW, so saying that he "got off" is a bit wrong, considering the governing body didn't think he had a case to answer. What you thought was bad from the stands or on tv may not have been so bad on the ground.
Your biggest injury of the night came from someone who made the mistake of tackling Shrek when he was in the mood.:lol:

Was Rene Matuia charged?

 

[Willow]

Reports say no one was charged this round Pando.

how many tackles do you see where the hands go between the legs? the only ones that get punished is where they get dumped on their head.

Moffo, surely you know that's rubbish. Plenty of dangerous tackles get cited and charged. They don't have to land on their head to make it so. The MRC are notoriously inconsistent in this regard.

 

[Willow]

Here's a bit of footage.
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF TACKLE
(Download 3.4 MB)

 

[El Diablo]

his tackle was worse than what Hindmarsh got charged for last week

the drink driving menace should've been charged