There's nothing like a good legs tackle, it can be visually spectacular, just think of Scott Sattler's tackle in the grand final, and there are many more. Ron Coote was a specialist at it, however, apparently, his head would be in front of your knees, his left arm around the back of you legs and he'd use his right elbow to hit you in the head, Mates of mine who played first grade against him claim he did it all the time, and basically 'knocked them out', or at least stunned them and slowed the play the ball.
The new concept they are pushing I believe is no tackling above the torso, which I think they will rule, 'above the abdomen'. That's okay with me and is where Jake hits, Haumole typically hits, and those who are considered enforcers hit. You either cut them down by the legs, or bend them in half!
I am not sure it's going to mitigate the risk of brain injuries, as while the 'game' maybe perceived to doing the right thing, there's a heap of concussions occuring from players' heads hitting the ground, and not through body contact above the torso.
The way litigation is going, OzTag may just unfortunately be the future, unless the NRL has very, very tight litigation free contracts. Lawyers are constantly lining up for class actions, so to avoid that, the NRL has to have in place rock solid contracts, whereby the player acknowleges the potential risk to their health during or after playing NRL and the NRL has to have (and Clubs) sufficient insurance policies to cover injuries or claims, and demonstrate welfare within their rules to try and mitigate potential injuries or ongoing health issues.
American football has tried to mitigate head injuries by players wearing helmets, after using similar head gear to what some of the NRL players wear, however players in the NFL now use their helmets as a weapon, which has completely debunked the safety purpose.
That head gear is compulsory in junior football is a wonderful stance to undertake, and I personally think it should be compulsory for every player in the NRL. If it's good enough for Thurston, Menzies, Crichton, Burton, et al, why not?
We all want the game to be a spectacle, and we love the 'big hits', some more so than a magic try, and they tend to make the highlight reels, even more so when promoting the game in LA.
The NRL needs to protect our game so it doesn't become OzTag, and I am sure they are trying to do that, and we all need to understand and respect that the guys playing are basically 'Gladiators' providing entertainment in a contact sport which in terms of contact or gladiators, humankind has loved for milleniums.
Yes, we love the skill of golfers, tennis players, basketball players, netball players, baseball players, soccer players (or any non contact sport), however, there's nothing quite like the intensity of a contact sport like NRL to up the adrenalin.
I sincerely hope the game doesn't change too much to take away what we all (most) love about the game.