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Why common sense must prevail when ruling on contact intent in rugby union and league
Guy Heveldt • July 22nd, 2025 11:33 am
Photo: Fox League
This time it's gone too far - they're cracking down on everything in terms of any questionable tackle, or form of physicality, in both rugby and rugby league.
A few things I can agree with, minimising the possibility of any head injury for example is only a smart thing to do.
There were some frustrating moments in rugby union in the weekend, but the most frustrating as a completely neutral viewer came in the NRL match between the Melbourne Storm and Manly Sea Eagles at AAMI Park.
I had only a watching interest of what seemed to be the match of the weekend, and it was, in large part, with the Storm making a late charge towards what would have been a heart rate lowering win for an irate Craig Bellamy. They were inconsistent, poor with their basic skills, and frankly didn't deserve to win.
But they had a great chance to win, until their charge was halted by a frustrating call.
I'll preface what I'm about to say by pointing out that none of this is really the fault of the on-field referee or The Bunker - they were simply following the rules. Rules that have gone too far.
If you haven't seen it, with less than three minutes left in the game and the scores locked at 16-all, Luke Brooks lined up for what would have been a match-winning field goal from around 40m out, with Storm hooker Harry Grant charging at him to attempt to defuse the shot.
He got there just a fraction late - Brooks got his shot away, and on the follow-through Grant made contact with Brooks' kicking leg. When I say made contact, I mean with very minimal contact with his eyes anywhere but at Brooks' leg. It barely moved the kicker and there's no way it did any damage.
This was a desperation moment in the game, potentially the winning or the losing of it.
So, what's Grant expected to do? Not put pressure on the kicker, just let Brooks take the field goal without any real challenge?
Ironically, Grant is the player who brought this to the attention of rule makers, and are part of the reason why they have cracked down on this sort of thing. But where has common sense gone?
Was he actually attacking Brooks' leg? Absolutely not.
Was it just a natural incident of what occurs when a player is attempting to charge a kick down? Undoubtedly, yes.
I'm going to sound like a broken record - but when playing the replay of that incident, and plenty of others, at full speed - that fact is obvious.
When slowing it down to monitor the movement frame by frame, there's always going to be something wrong. Any logic or human instinct has gone from the majority of calls in rugby league or rugby union right now, and it's ruining both games.
Yes, we have to be careful around certain aspects of both as science points towards bigger issues in life post-contact sport.
But these are contact sports. Not every incident is on purpose, with malice or with intent to injure. Sometimes there is going to be innocuous contact that is simply part of the game. And for the sake of both games, that has to be protected.
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