Sports After Dark

The NRL Grand Final is less than a week away but still rugby league fans have just two words on their mind as the Melbourne Storm prepare to take on the Manly Sea Eagles: Grapple tackle.

For casual rugby league fans who get involved during the business end of the season, there is some confusion as to what a grapple tackle is and what the big deal is about them. A grapple tackle is one in which a tackler wraps his arm around the neck or head of an opponent in an attempt to either torque their neck, or simply choke their opponent in an effort to slow down the play the ball, and it’s a big deal because this extremely dangerous type of tackle is becoming more and more common in the game.

The grapple tackle issue came to prominence when Melbourne Storm captain Cameron Smith was suspended for two matches for a grapple tackle on Brisbane forward Sam Thaiday during the finals series, a suspension that means he misses the Grand Final. After prolonged media scutiny of this incident, the Storm coach, Craig Bellamy, and CEO, Brian Waldron launched into a scathing assault on the media and the NRL for a perceived bias against the only NRL team from Victoria.

While the NRL may have fined Bellamy and Waldron $50,000 for their outburst, it is difficult to defend against the Storm allegation of selective enforcement of the grapple tackle rules, particularly when they contrast Cameron Smith’s tackle on Thaiday, for which he got a two game suspension, with Stuart Webb’s tackle on Heath Lestrange which only attracted a penalty during the game. Webb’s tackle looks far worse, but somehow the NRL judicial committee ruled that it was not worthy of a hearing as there was “no second movement”, seemingly ignoring the fact that Webb had a tight choke hold on Lestrange.

The other target of Bellamy’s anger was the media, who he claimed kept the grapple tackle issue in the papers for far longer than they would have if it was a Sydney based club at the centre of the controversy. This may be Bellamy’s perception, but it is becoming harder and harder to argue against him when media personalities were prejudging Cameron Smith before his hearing.

Legend Ricky Stuart, ironically Bellamy’s opposing coach last weekend, was one of the most outspoken in his newspaper column and radio spots, saying on the eve of Cameron Smith’s hearing: “He’s been found guilty of attacking the head or the neck, or whatever it was. Rules are rules. He’s been flirting with it all year, so the time comes when you pay the price.”

The straw that broke the camel’s back may have been the one week suspension handed out to Storm forward Jeremy Smith for a “chicken wing” tackle on Thaiday, ironically in the same tackle for which Cameron Smith was suspended. While the hold used by Jeremy Smith was in fact an Americana, a chicken wing is done from behind, it too was part of the NRL’s crack down on wrestling holds being used in tackles, but it also raises the question, why is the NRL chosing to crack down during the finals, which should be they greatest showcase?

If the NRL is serious about eliminating the grapple tackle from the game, particularly in light of comments from team of the century member Johnny Raper who claims it is now infiltrating junior football, then they need to adopt a zero tolerance policy on all grapple tackles, rather than their current policy which has more holes than swiss cheese. And perhaps they should muzzle players and coaches ahead of judicial hearings so that comments like Stuart’s are unable to have any perceived influence on the outcome, perhaps then fans will be talking about the fantastic football on show in the two preliminary finals and not a controversial tackling technique.

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The NRL crackdown on grapple tackles misguided and inconsistent by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.