Re: Shoulder Charges : Wed Jul 10, 2013 10:06 am  

don't they have two refs?

Re: Shoulder Charges : Wed Jul 10, 2013 10:35 am  

Shoulder charge should never have been banned, why change something on the grounds of safety when the players weren't bothered about it? It makes no sense at all to me. Then again asking the RFL to do something sensible would be a stretch too far. No doubt at the end of this season they will make up another new rule like they do every year. The game will never progress with a bunch of rank amateurs running it

Re: Shoulder Charges : Wed Jul 10, 2013 11:09 am  

It’s like the offside rule on the try line; it’s used when the referee wants to make a point, or when he remembers what he should be doing. Chuck it and just let referees punish dangerous play in general.

[Fantastic Mr Catpiss]

Re: Shoulder Charges : Wed Jul 10, 2013 11:38 am  

Sadfish wrote:

Well it's the same rule in Australia, so I really think there is some merit in this.

I do think some of the shoulder charges are dangerous, especially to a player kicking the ball who may not be set for a collision.
I think the rule in essence is a good one, but either the implementation has been poorly managed, or it is impossible to govern consistantly.

They seem less bothered by the rule in the NRL.

Thats not been so much of an issue since jason hooper retired.

Mind, they weren't all that bothered about it back then.

Re: Shoulder Charges : Wed Jul 10, 2013 12:14 pm  

tbh if we banned the shoulder charge because a bunch of doctors thought it was dangerous then Rugby in general might be in danger because it's a dangerous sport. My GP told me years ago Rugby players were just mad

Re: Shoulder Charges : Wed Jul 10, 2013 12:41 pm  

No1 Saint wrote:

tbh if we banned the shoulder charge because a bunch of doctors thought it was dangerous then Rugby in general might be in danger because it's a dangerous sport. My GP told me years ago Rugby players were just mad

If this is the case then doctors would ban punching in boxing wouldn’t they?

Just a thought

Re: Shoulder Charges : Fri Jul 12, 2013 7:47 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

The official line is that because the medical profession specifically referred to the shoulder charge as a dangerous play there would be potential legal consequences for the sport if they continued to allow it. How accurate that is I don't know as I'm not a lawyer.

I think the medical profession would refer to Rugby as a dangerous sport, any sport where players can run into one another as hard as possible with the intent to collide is dangerous.

I'm actually surprised that the League haven't latched onto an Extreme Sport badge.