Spear tackles - how dangerous?

[injuryupdate]

Big controversy in the Sydney papers today about Gregan's 1 week versus Crocker's 9 weeks, for similar looking spear tackles.

Dr Merv Cross thinks that Gregan should also have gotten a long holiday, whereas Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy plus ex-NRL player Ray Price have suggested the Crocker suspension was over the top. Where do you sit?

[Mike Davis]

Having played in a rugby union game where someone was tackled this way and were left a quadraplegic i believe that a hefty sentence is required to those who tackle this way. It is a wierd feeling playing in such a game and not one i want to be a part of again.

I dont think it matters if the player has semi's or national duty coming up in their playing calender. if they commit the crime they should do the time.

As Ewen McKenzie stated in the paper Rocky Elsom got 4 weeks suspension for throwing punches and not hitting anyone. A lifetime in a wheelchair from a speartackle is worse than having to get dentures due to a well directed punch.

[Coxy]

6-10 weeks is perfectly legitimate for each of those tackles, considering the potential injury can rule the tackled player for much much longer.

[SPK]

I've been on the end of 3 spear tackles. I don't think there is anything scarier on a footy field then seeing the ground fly up at your head like that and not being able to do anything about it. Thankfully I was fortunate enough not to have serious injuries, but one was bad enough to warrant a trip to hospital to have it checked out.

I appreciate that it's footy and things like this will happen, not deliberately but they will happen.

That being said, Crocker (6 charges in 5 years) as harsh as his penalty is, is a serial offender so he got what was coming to him. It would seem he'd be better suited in a spandex jumpsuit in a wrestling ring then on a footy field.

For a spear tackle the minimum should be at least 6 weeks, regardless of penalty loading for prior offences. The worse the offender, the higher the suspension.

[Unregistered]

Completely agree with the comments above.

1. Upcoming rep duties (if that was a factor, I didn't see the newspaper reports) should have nothing to do with any penalty imposed. The penalty should reflect the "crime" and should increase for serial offenders.

2. A trip to a spinal unit and/or a requirement to spend time with someone who has acquired quadriplegia as the result of an accident/injury - especially a sporting injury - should be mandatory for anyone who performs a spear tackle. Perhaps a greater awareness of the consequences of such tackles might help change that behaviour.

Having worked in disabled as well as ablebodied sport over the last 20 plus years, and having seen the permanent consequences of such tackles, it sickens me to see spear tackles in any of the codes. The course of someone's life (and that of their family and friends) can change in a split second, with the simplest of incidents. Spear tackles only magnify that risk. Whilst it is fantastic that there are opportunities in sport from recreational to elite level after the acquisition of a disability, how much better it would be if that never had to be considered.

[injuryupdate]

It was a bit of a joke to read in the Tele this morning that George Gregan got off lightly because he had done charity work. George is a model citizen but he should have copped more time.

[injuryupdate]

GREGAN BAN `DISGUSTING' - LEADING DOCTOR SLAMS SPINELESS DECISION - GREGAN: 1 WEEK

DEAN RITCHIE

MATP

427 words

9 May 2006

Daily Telegraph

1 - State

72

English

Copyright 2006 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LEADING orthopaedic surgeon Dr Merv Cross last night slammed rugby union's decision to suspend Wallaby captain George Gregan for just one week -- describing his weekend spear tackle as "disgusting" and worthy of a 10-week ban.

The kid-glove treatment of Gregan after his dangerous Super 14 tackle on Highlanders winger Richard Kahui (above left) came as the NRL charged Melbourne's Michael Crocker with a grade four dangerous throw on South Sydney's Shane Rigon (above right).

Crocker will be suspended for nine matches if he enters an early guilty plea -- 12 games if he fights the case and loses.

"The fact Gregan only got one week is disgusting," Cross said.

Continued Page 67

From Back Page

"[Gregan's] tackle was dangerous. Had it been another player, you can't help but think he would have been given a bigger suspension," Dr Cross said.

"You only need to see one player become a quadriplegic and everyone loses interest [in the sport].

"I think league has got it right, I don't think union has.

"I thought that rugby union -- given the incidence of neck injuries -- would have been more severe than just one match.

"Rugby union should be more stringent."

Many experienced commentators and players from both codes believe Gregan's spear tackle was worse than Crocker's.

The impending suspension of Crocker, who has been outed seven times since 2002, will end his chances of representing Queensland in this year's State of Origin series.

"Michael Crocker is a bloke who should have known better," Dr Cross said.

Crocker's grade four charge carries a base penalty of a seven-week ban which would be increased because of past offences.

Gregan's one-week ban means he will miss the fourth-placed Brumbies' final regular season match against the Super 14-leading Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday night.

But he will be available for the semi-finals the following weekend if the Brumbies make the final four.

Former dual international Ray Price is one former player not calling for tough action.

He said he had viewed both tackles and had no problems with either.

"[Kahui] landed across the back of his shoulder," said Price, one of the greatest forwards to play league and union.

"Gregan didn't have his hands between his legs. I saw nothing wrong with the tackle."

Asked about the Crocker tackle, Price said: "It was a good tackle."

[injuryupdate]

GREGAN BAN `DISGUSTING' - LEADING DOCTOR SLAMS SPINELESS DECISION - GREGAN: 1 WEEK

DEAN RITCHIE

MATP

427 words

9 May 2006

Daily Telegraph

1 - State

72

English

Copyright 2006 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved

LEADING orthopaedic surgeon Dr Merv Cross last night slammed rugby union's decision to suspend Wallaby captain George Gregan for just one week -- describing his weekend spear tackle as "disgusting" and worthy of a 10-week ban.

The kid-glove treatment of Gregan after his dangerous Super 14 tackle on Highlanders winger Richard Kahui (above left) came as the NRL charged Melbourne's Michael Crocker with a grade four dangerous throw on South Sydney's Shane Rigon (above right).

Crocker will be suspended for nine matches if he enters an early guilty plea -- 12 games if he fights the case and loses.

"The fact Gregan only got one week is disgusting," Cross said.

Continued Page 67

From Back Page

"[Gregan's] tackle was dangerous. Had it been another player, you can't help but think he would have been given a bigger suspension," Dr Cross said.

"You only need to see one player become a quadriplegic and everyone loses interest [in the sport].

"I think league has got it right, I don't think union has.

"I thought that rugby union -- given the incidence of neck injuries -- would have been more severe than just one match.

"Rugby union should be more stringent."

Many experienced commentators and players from both codes believe Gregan's spear tackle was worse than Crocker's.

The impending suspension of Crocker, who has been outed seven times since 2002, will end his chances of representing Queensland in this year's State of Origin series.

"Michael Crocker is a bloke who should have known better," Dr Cross said.

Crocker's grade four charge carries a base penalty of a seven-week ban which would be increased because of past offences.

Gregan's one-week ban means he will miss the fourth-placed Brumbies' final regular season match against the Super 14-leading Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday night.

But he will be available for the semi-finals the following weekend if the Brumbies make the final four.

Former dual international Ray Price is one former player not calling for tough action.

He said he had viewed both tackles and had no problems with either.

"[Kahui] landed across the back of his shoulder," said Price, one of the greatest forwards to play league and union.

"Gregan didn't have his hands between his legs. I saw nothing wrong with the tackle."

Asked about the Crocker tackle, Price said: "It was a good tackle."

[SPK]

Former dual international Ray Price is one former player not calling for tough action.

He said he had viewed both tackles and had no problems with either.

"[Kahui] landed across the back of his shoulder," said Price, one of the greatest forwards to play league and union.

"Gregan didn't have his hands between his legs. I saw nothing wrong with the tackle."

Asked about the Crocker tackle, Price said: "It was a good tackle."

I love it. All these old footy dinosaurs who played in a completely different era always have to have their say on things like this. If a tackle doesn't knock out a few teeth or rattle your brains around your skull then it's no good.

What constitutes a bad tackle in his eyes I wonder?

[injuryupdate]

Good move by Merv Cross in terms of headline grabbing. Normally you have to say something outrageous to get a back page headline, but Merv only said what most other people were thinking, so he cracks the back page AND look sensible.

[injuryupdate]

last week, question time:

RUGBY FOOTBALL ASSAULTS

The Hon. Dr ARTHUR CHESTERFIELD-EVANS [11.50 a.m.]: My question is directed to the Minister for Industrial Relations. Does professional sport come under the aegis of WorkCover? Is the Minister aware that a professional rugby footballer of national standing was suspended for only one week after making a spear tackle on another player of the type that is both illegal and likely to cause quadriplegia? Does the Government exercise any supervision over disciplinary tribunals of the various football codes? If penalties for unacceptable assaults or tackles become derisory, will the Government intervene to take power from these tribunals? If a player were rendered quadriplegic by an illegal tackle, would the Government prosecute the perpetrator, and if not, why not? Under what criteria, if any, would the Government take power from those tribunals, or prosecute players under other laws? How can parents in New South Wales confidently start their children in rugby football codes in that situation?
<12>
The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: I thank the honourable member for his question, which raises a number of interesting points. The first is whether professional sports come under the aegis of WorkCover. The general answer to the question is yes, but only in the context that professional sportsmen or sportswomen conduct their professional sports as workers; in other words, if they are contracted as employees. In that case the club or association would be obliged to have a workers compensation policy covering them.


A number of sporting bodies*probably the best-known professional sports in New South Wales and Australia*currently are exempt from WorkCover and the Sporting Injuries Insurance Act. They include, for example, the Australian Football League, the National Rugby League, cricket and rugby union, which is the sport that I think the honourable member's question essentially is about. I might say as an aside, for example, that apart from the exemption provisions, whether WorkCover insurance is required for a professional sporting body centres around the issue of the form of contract for the players. For example, there is a current issue about whether netball players should be regarded as workers for the purposes of the Workers Compensation Act. Similarly the way in which soccer players are contracted is a matter that generally would leave them, as I understand it, exempt from WorkCover control in relation to the conduct of their sport. Therefore the answer to the first part of the honourable member's question is that, in a general sense, professional sport does come under the aegis of WorkCover.
However,
there are specific exemptions for the better-known professional sports, and there is some dispute about the ways in which some of the other professional sports operate.

In respect of the remainder of the honourable member's question, I am aware of the particular matter he spoke about, as I think would most who read the sports pages or follow rugby union and rugby league. The Government does not exercise any direct supervision over disciplinary tribunals of the various football codes. I am not sure what the honourable member means by his reference to penalties for unacceptable actions. Previous behaviour and the degree of intent in any particular incident on a playing field are largely matters for those internal tribunals to make determinations about.

The rest of the honourable member's question suggested an equating of tackles in some codes of football with assaults. That is a very tricky issue, because for the most part behaviour on a football or any other sporting field, no matter how robust, provided it is within the rules, explicitly would not come under the category of criminal assault. Were it to be the case that players, either on a professional sporting field or for that matter in an amateur sporting context, were concerned that they were assaulted on the field of play, then that would be a matter for complaint to the police and police prosecution, and the Government obviously would not take a view on that. That would be a matter for determination by the police.

I know anecdotally of any number of cases of people from time to time reporting to police assaults on referees and other players, and on occasions I think there has been follow-up and charges laid. But that is an anecdotal matter, and the honourable member could research such matters for himself, or I could obtain some more information for him about that. In regard to parents having confidence in various sporting codes and the safety aspects of various sporting codes, I can give the member some comfort* [Time expired.]

The Hon. Dr ARTHUR CHESTERFIELD-EVANS: I ask a supplementary question of the Minister for Industrial Relations. Will the Minister clarify which sports are exempt? If a tackle is explicitly prohibited by the rules of the code, does that not become an assault?

The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: The honourable member is now asking me for a legal opinion. I will ignore that issue and say again that any allegation of assault on, off or near a sporting field would be a matter for complaint to the police. Obviously, the matter would then be investigated and taken up as a police issue. In respect of the first part of my answer, I have clear advice that Australian football, the National Rugby League, professional cricket and rugby union are all specifically exempt under the Sporting Injuries Act.

I was about to give the honourable member some comfort in respect of the last part of his question. In regard to junior sport, parents of children playing the rugby codes, or for that matter any other codes of contact sport, can take comfort from the fact that the Sporting Injuries Committee, which conducts its affairs under the general aegis of WorkCover, does research with and on behalf of all the sporting codes. Academic research is undertaken to look at ways in which advice can be given to the sporting codes to change their disciplinary codes and rules, particularly those that affect junior players. The honourable member may or may not be aware that most of the major football codes have modified their rules for junior sport, and that action has been consistent with advice given to them by bodies like the Sporting Injuries Committee of New South Wales, which does tremendous work on a very limited resource base and gives a considerable amount of advice to sports bodies about how to minimise risk, particularly to junior players.

[Nicholas]

If you want to compare George Gregan's to Michael Crocker's then here's a video of George Gregans. I could not find Michael Crocker's spear tackle video but it is similar for those of you that haven't seen it. I'm chasing down the Michael Crocker one but here's the George Gregan one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyVYKOmXpto

I have 2 more, Danny Buderus's spear tackle that got him a 6 match ban:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzK-VahNVck

And here is the one from Lote Tuquiri:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NZmjsFUtiw

Enjoy the videos!!!

[injuryupdate]

Danny Buderus might have to call George Gregan to work out how he managed to only get a week.