Union coaches call for judiciary overhaul

[NewsBot]

The ACT Brumbies will sweat on the availability of scrum half George Gregan for next Friday's crucial Super 14 encounter with Canterbury in Christchurch.{br}{br}View the Entire Article{br}

[NewsBot]

New South Wales Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie has again called for the SANZAR judiciary to be overhauled after Brumbies scrum half and Wallabies captain George Gregan was suspended for just one week for a spear tackle.{br}{br}View the Entire Article{br}

[Sagerian]

It's about time, consistancy is the key to any kind of professional descision making. As an example off the top of my tipsy head, Justin Harrison copped $20k and 3 games for a racial slur. So what SANZAR is saying is that dumping someone on their head is ok as long as you don't call them any names.


We need an overhaul, hell get Dick Wolf to do it...

*Law and Order theme plays, but the jazzy one, you know, from SVU... The one with the solo at the end.. Don't tell me you haven't heard it, it's the one that goes dow-dow do-do-do-do-doooun-dininnini, bow bow bow*

[Burgs]

Don't tell me you haven't heard it, it's the one that goes dow-dow do-do-do-do-doooun-dininnini, bow bow bow*

Oh......that one.......

I agree that consistency is the key however, consistency isn't found by comparing Elsoms’ "punch" with Gregans tackle as Link is trying to do.
Regardless of if he actually punched the bloke or not, Elsom was found guilty.
He copped four weeks which may have been excessive however, he was fighting which is not part of actually playing the game.
Gregans tackle was stupid and reckless however it was a tackle and it was a continuous action. At no stage did he stop and change his grip to actually dump Kahui in a true spear tackle.
I in no way condone the actual tackle but it is part of the game, he showed immediate guilt and remorse and it was not a vindictive act. To try and beat someone’s head in, in a fight in my mind shows a lack of self control and is definitely a vindictive act.
Link also mentions the taking into regard the players record. He is delusional if he thinks that Elsoms’ 40 odd Super Caps and 9 Test Caps deserves comparison to the current Wallaby Captains virtually blemish free 112 Super Caps and 118 Test Caps record!
With regard to cross code comparisons, I would suggest that the Leaguies may want to pay more attention to shoulder shots to the head as demonstrated by Kiwi Second Row Frank Pritchard on Kangaroo Karmichael Hunt during the ANZAC Test on Friday night. Pritchard had every intent on hitting Hunt high, he landed his shoulder flush to Hunts nose and Hunt was stretchered from the ground.
My immediate reaction was "mate, you are so gone, say goodbye to your season!" but the League fans watching with me wondered what the hell I was talking about and couldn't see a single thing wrong with it! And yes, they were Australians not Kiwis!
The mind boggles and as for the Mums and Dads factor I think that would have had to lose many juniors in that one action as it was portrayed as being fair and "in the spirit of the game"!!!

[shasta]

New South Wales Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie has again called for the SANZAR judiciary to be overhauled after Brumbies scrum half and Wallabies captain George Gregan was suspended for just one week for a spear tackle.

This inconsistency is a real problem for the game. The AFL and NRL judiciaries operate on similar grading systems using the same panel for the whole season and still manage some inconsistant findings but they are streets ahead of what SANZAR is currently coming up with.

Are these judiciary panels the same people in each country for the whole season, anyone know?

[shasta]

I would suggest that the Leaguies may want to pay more attention to shoulder shots to the head as demonstrated by Kiwi Second Row Frank Pritchard on Kangaroo Karmichael Hunt during the ANZAC Test on Friday night. Pritchard had every intent on hitting Hunt high, he landed his shoulder flush to Hunts nose and Hunt was stretchered from the ground.
My immediate reaction was "mate, you are so gone, say goodbye to your season!" but the League fans watching with me wondered what the hell I was talking about and couldn't see a single thing wrong with it! And yes, they were Australians not Kiwis!
The mind boggles and as for the Mums and Dads factor I think that would have had to lose many juniors in that one action as it was portrayed as being fair and "in the spirit of the game"!!!

Carmichael Hunt - nickname apparently "Harm" for Harmicheal ****

Your RL mates were right, under the current rules the tackle was OK. Banning the shoulder charge is starting to get a bit of momentum in RL, but it's fair to say there is plenty of resistance in some circles. Some, ex-players in particular, seem to base their opposition squarely on the premise that that would be a pussy RU type rule.

The main area the where the shoulder charge has come under scrutiny is in trying to protect 5th tackle kickers. Defenders are expecting the kick and rush up to either charge the kick down or tackle the kicker. They are running so fast it's hard to judge a late tackle, and a shoulder charge is still a legal tackle as long as it's not high or late. Recently Craig Gower had a few weeks out with a bruised lung after one such event. No action against the tackler. Nasty but "legal".

Personally, some of the hits in general play are great, and the ball carrier is usually ready for it. But overall they are just too dangerous and need to be outlawed. If RL supporters like to see "Big Hits" they can just support The Force and watch Josh Graham

[Burgs]

Yeah, I certainly enjoy a good bash up there's no worries there, I was just amazed that a contact that didn't even make any contact with the jersey wasn't deemed to be high! If square to the nose isn't high then what is? Scalping him? There isn't much else left!
To me a big hit isn't how high on the body it is but how hard it is.
Over the years I have seen some fantastic tackles at all levels of the game which were below the rib cage.
It just seems that NRL is getting away with an ever relaxing tackle zone.
The simplest way to rule it consistently is to say that a high tackle (including shoulder charges) is one that doesn't make contact with the jersey. It isn't so much the shoulder charge as such that is what I have issue with, it is where the contact is made. In my observation, unless a high tackle puts someone on a stretcher, it is rarely as effective as a legal one anyway and doesn't have the same rising leg drive as a classic gut buster.
I notice after his sickening blow against the Brumbies that most of Grahams big hits are now rib rattlers!

[Sparko]

Australian Rugby Union (ARU) chief executive Gary Flowers has moved quickly to put out the raging fires over the inexplicable lenient one-week ban for Wallaby captain George Gregan, after the Brumbies scrum-half was found guilty of a spear tackle by a judicial hearing on Monday.


But the decision of the all-Australian judicial panel has caused a major outcry, with numerous commentators and critics Down Under calling the lenient sentence a "disgrace".

Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie head the list of those demanding some answers, particularly after flank Rocky Elsom was banned for four weeks for punching against the Bulls.

The question being asked is how does the possibility of a split lip and at worst concussion gets you four weeks, but an indiscretion that can cause serious injury and potentially leave the victim wheelchair-bound only warrants one week?

Some went as far as pointing out that Waratahs wing Wendell Sailor copped three weeks for vomiting in a pot plant (also from an Australian DC hearing).

[Burgs]

Might as well keep this topic on the one thread fellas, discussion already running at:
http://thewholeforce.com/showthread.php?t=2697

[shasta]

It just seems that NRL is getting away with an ever relaxing tackle zone.
The simplest way to rule it consistently is to say that a high tackle (including shoulder charges) is one that doesn't make contact with the jersey. It isn't so much the shoulder charge as such that is what I have issue with, it is where the contact is made. In my observation,

Yeah I agree. But I often hear the apologists say stuff like " he's not a dirty player/there was no mailce there it was just a shoulder charge gone wrong" The thing is they can go wrong far too easily and the potential for serious injury is greater than with an "arms" tackle. So why not place player safety first and ban them outright? RL has a geater issue because of the 6 tackle structure of the game and the predictability of the territorial kicks. It leaves the kickers very vulnerable even allowing fro the 10 meter offside rule.