Two penalties for tackles on kickers saw fans up in arms last weekend.
www.zerotackle.com
"There has been a view expressed that the
NRL and the referees have gone overboard with the protection of kickers, and this goes right back to a directive that came from the [ARL] commission," Annesley said.
"You can see this is from July 2021, and it talks about protecting kickers. There are a few key points to come out of this which I've tried to summarise in terms of what do we mean when we talk about protecting kickers?
"What it really comes down to is there are four things the referees are really looking for.
"One is whether it's late or not, and contact with kickers after the ball has been kicked won't always be deemed to be late, the second one is high obviously, if there is contact with the head or neck, everyone knows that contact with the head or neck is a no-no these days, so that's another factor they look for.
"[In the Hess on Hynes example] everyone talks about "that's not late, he's already committed to the tackle", but again, think about the four factors. It's obviously not high in this case, but have a look at the risk of injury, but also the vulnerability. Hynes has both point off the ground [when Hess makes contact]. It's around the waist, but he is off balance and he lands heavily on the ground," Annesley said
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This is just ridiculous. By definition, any player at any time they are tackled are vulnerable. It also allows legitimately good, hard LEGAL hits to be penalised and allows the ref to use 'discretion' to legitimise penalising great tackles.
Just leave the game alone!