Wires71 wrote:
Thing is would he be giving this interview if the roles were reversed and it was Leigh players injured by a St Helens player?
I think the reaction to the tackles would have been entirely different had a St Helens player made them, and I think you know it would. The technique was horrific, whether it's legal or not and injuries are almost guaranteed from it, whether it's the ball carrier or the tackler himself. It would have been a different story entirely if it was the other way round.
If the tackles happened in a game not involved Saints, they would have been widely condemned. Because it's Saints and because of the grievances people have over Knowles and the appeal and general hatred of all things Saints, everything changes.
As for Wellens, there isn't a coach in the game that wouldn't speak out if a player injured FOUR players in one game with at best horrifically reckless technique and the RFL simply ignored it. He has to speak out.
The RFL have to be incredibly careful and their reaction has been utterly pathetic. Now the technique has been brought to light and the clear danger it brings to the welfare of players has been highlighted, if a player does another one before the season is out and the injury caused retirement or permanent disability, the RFL would be wide open for litigation. They could and should have handled it far better than they did, which would have prevented Wellens needing to speak out. The response Wellens got from the RFL was 'we aren't going to take any action, we aren't going to review the medical records from the injuries and we aren't going to take any further action'. What do you expect Wellens to do when faced with that? What they should have done is called Asiata in when they decided it wasn't covered specifically in the current rules and warned him on his technique, reminded him of his duty of care to tackle in a manner that isn't likely to cause injury. They could then have released a statement confirming the lack of a charge, explaining the caution on his technique and stating they would review the technique and make law amendments as required. The situation would then have been resolved and Wellens wouldn't have needed to speak out.
The RFL have put the sport in a ridiculous position. Saints v Leeds this week, if Morgan Knowles charges after the kick off, throws his shoulder through a Leeds player's knee and snaps his leg into an L shape, what happens then? It's not a penalty, there would be no ban and no one would call it out in the press afterwards?
