World Club Challenge

[cpwigan]

Rob,

Simple rule change. Any tackle on the chest or above = a penalty. It gives players the opportunity to free their arms and offload. We need to keep variety in the game. 5 drives and a kick is capable of killing the sport if we are not careful.

I would even consider outlawing shoulder charges and insist the tackler grasps the ball carrier with his arms.

Equally we need to find a way of rewarding a low tackle. As the rules stand when you tackle around the legs you gain nothing, your actually more likely to be penalised.

[robjoenz]

Rob,

Simple rule change. Any tackle on the chest or above = a penalty. It gives players the opportunity to free their arms and offload. We need to keep variety in the game. 5 drives and a kick is capable of killing the sport if we are not careful.

I would even consider outlawing shoulder charges and insist the tackler grasps the ball carrier with his arms.

Equally we need to find a way of rewarding a low tackle. As the rules stand when you tackle around the legs you gain nothing, your actually more likely to be penalised.

How do you hold a player up in your own in-goal / prevent a try near your own line if you're penalised for tackling above the waist? Can't see that ever working I'm afraid.

GeoffN suggested calling held sooner, this allows exploitation of the surrender tackle. Clever players do this at amateur/youth level, run into a tackle upright clamping the ball wanting the referee to call held straight away so they can play the ball and catch the defensive line out of position. Some players even play the ball before the tackle has been called in an attempt to attack a broken line.

[GeoffN]

Rob,

Simple rule change. Any tackle on the chest or above = a penalty. It gives players the opportunity to free their arms and offload. We need to keep variety in the game. 5 drives and a kick is capable of killing the sport if we are not careful.

I would even consider outlawing shoulder charges and insist the tackler grasps the ball carrier with his arms.

Equally we need to find a way of rewarding a low tackle. As the rules stand when you tackle around the legs you gain nothing, your actually more likely to be penalised.

How do you hold a player up in your own in-goal / prevent a try near your own line if you're penalised for tackling above the waist? Can't see that ever working I'm afraid.

GeoffN suggested calling held sooner, this allows exploitation of the surrender tackle. Clever players do this at amateur/youth level, run into a tackle upright clamping the ball wanting the referee to call held straight away so they can play the ball and catch the defensive line out of position. Some players even play the ball before the tackle has been called in an attempt to attack a broken line.

I'm not saying "straight away" though, just sooner. The criteria for calling held used to be "if forward progress has been stopped". Has that changed?

[cpwigan]

Rob I never said below the waist. I said below chest height. The ball is usually held below chest height or away from the body. We are also talking about 99% of tackles not those rare over the line tackles.

It makes sense Rob, it encourages ball play

[robjoenz]

Rob I never said below the waist. I said below chest height. The ball is usually held below chest height or away from the body. We are also talking about 99% of tackles not those rare over the line tackles.

It makes sense Rob, it encourages ball play

Below the chest then, makes no difference... look at most tries, where is the ball relative to the scorers body as the ball is grounded, often in line with the chest. It just wouldn't work, it'd be a daft rule near the line and you can't have two different rules for different areas of the pitch.