The Send off rule

[frank stokes]

Walsh's head drops in height only as he runs/turns/pivots to pass the ball... his right foot only slips a fraction of a second before Sua'ali'i hits him. So even if he doesn't slip he was still going to get hit high and after he passed the ball. There isn't much that mitigates that IMO.

Given how hard he hit him directly in the head, it's a send off every day of the week... it put the result beyond doubt and I'm sure hitting him in the head wasn't intentional, but it was the correct decision.

Split second is all it takes… the hit fro Liam Martin in the second half was exactly the same except the attacker does not slip so the shoulder hits him high in the chest…
Correct decision in the current NRL imo… 10 min in origin and, if not, then origin is officially now as p*ss weak as NRL… (which, let’s face it, we know it is)

But maybe more mums that don’t want little Billy to get hurt will now let him play this ‘safer’ version of rugba leeg… yeah, f*ckin right….

 

[Scorpio]

Split second is all it takes… the hit fro Liam Martin in the second half was exactly the same except the attacker does not slip so the shoulder hits him high in the chest…
Correct decision in the current NRL imo… 10 min in origin and, if not, then origin is officially now as p*ss weak as NRL… (which, let’s face it, we know it is)

But maybe more mums that don’t want little Billy to get hurt will now let him play this ‘safer’ version of rugba leeg… yeah, f*ckin right….

Walsh's head height drops as he puts his weight onto his left leg to pivot to pass the ball (by which point Sua'ali'i has already fully committed to smash him)... his head height doesn't drop as his right leg starts to slip, you can see it at 0:51 at 0.5x speed:

This one is entirely on Sua'ali'i.

 

[HK_Eagle]

Walsh's head height drops as he puts his weight onto his left leg to pivot to pass the ball (by which point Sua'ali'i has already fully committed to smash him)... his head height doesn't drop as his right leg starts to slip, you can see it at 0:51 at 0.5x speed:

This one is entirely on Sua'ali'i.

No way. Mascara Man dropped almost a full head height in that tackle.

That said, we know the onus is on the tackler not to hit the head. You aim for the chest, you risk these things happening.

 

[Scorpio]

That said, we know the onus is on the tackler not to hit the head. You aim for the chest, you risk these things happening.

Yep if he aimed lower then he doesn't make high contact and this isn't a discussion, although he might still have been penalised for (slightly) late contact...

 

[frank stokes]

he might still have been penalised for (slightly) late contact...

Yep because spine players are a protected species… hit a forward late and nobody gives a toss (unless it is VERY late)…
Can’t even breathe on a kicker anymore yet they can run in shoving prop forwards after a big hit… game is annoying these days…