Canberra coach Ricky Stuart knows the crusher tackle needs to be eliminated from the game but says players milking penalties is “rife” in the NRL.
The NRL’s crackdown on the crusher, where a tackler applies extra force on a player’s head and neck, was a big focus after Parramatta’s win over Melbourne on Thursday night.
Storm young gun Cooper Johns and prop Albert Vete were both placed on report for the offence during the game.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy spoke out after the match claiming the officiating of crusher tackles is inconsistent while Eels coach Brad Arthur had to deny a suggestion his players were staying down in an attempt to win penalties.
Bellamy respectfully disagreed with Arthur’s position in his post-match press conference.
Stuart says while there’s no question crusher tackles are dangerous, there’s also a legitimate concern players are staying down in order to win penalties for their team.
“The last thing we need is players laying down and milking a penalty on it because it’s rife in the game and we need to get that out of it,” he said.
The premiership-winning coach does, however, have a solution saying crusher tackle victims should be assessed off the field just like players who suffer head knocks, to ensure they are physically OK to continue playing.
“We have to eradicate the tackle but we’ve also got to be very, very mindful of players milking a penalty out of it because you’ve got a player’s short-term career on the line,” Stuart said.
“It’s a pretty healthy suspension.
“I think a grade one’s 200 points and having a player out for 200 points for a player laying down, faking an injury, is also unfair.
“If there is a concern over a crusher tackle I think that there should be, a little bit like the HIA, a player’s taken off the 15 minutes to assess the injury because we don’t want a player having to play on with any type of risk around the spine or the neck.”