NRL rule that’s set to help NFL

It’s become one of the hottest talking points in the game, but it turns out the NRL is leading the way when it comes to hip-drop tackles, with one of the biggest sporting codes in the world reaching out for help on how to police the act.

Hip-drops first appeared on the radar in July 2020 when the NRL sent a memo to clubs concerned they’d seen a few dangerous tackles creeping into the game.

That hasn’t stopped players from being charged amid several high-profile cases this season, with three players sin-binned and suspended for hip-drop tackles out of Sunday’s games in Round 5.

There were a number of tackles last week which led to players being sent to the sin bin, others were penalised and some weren’t charged, causing mass confusion over how the NRL handled the tackles.

But it turns out the code is leading the way after it was revealed the NFL had reached out to the NRL in February to seek advice on a possible rule change after Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard was seriously injured in the playoffs.

“It’s not just a problem in our game,” NRL head of football Graham Annesley said.

“A game that’s quite similar to ours in many ways, the NFL, is dealing with exactly the same problem as us (albeit) more recently than us.

“We’ve been dealing with them for the past three years or so, while it’s a current issue in the NFL right now.

“They’re in their off-season, so they haven’t made any final decision yet, but they’ve been in contact with us, and we’ve also had contact with the media in the United States about how we’ve been dealing it with here.

“We’ve provided as much information as we can to them. We’re not constantly in contact with them, but they’ve reached out and we’ve responded. It’s not just an NRL problem, it’s a problem in another tackling game.

“It’s a big issue over there at the moment.”

There is still a lot of grey in what people want to be a black and white rule, but Annesley stressed injuries alone don’t equate to charges following another round of differing opinions between the referees and the match review committee.

“I’m the first to admit that there are some tackles that people would see as falling into the category of hip-drops, which the match reviews committee don’t charge,” he said.

“You can’t say something is illegal just because there’s contact with a player’s leg. A player can get injured in a very legal tackle; we see that all the time.

“You can’t just use the outcome of the tackle as the differentiator to say whether it’s an illegal tackle or not.

“A player in one case may receive a significant injury as a result of a hip-drop tackle, and in another case, a player may receive an injury in just a straight around the legs tackle.”

Annesley also warned players they needed to adjust their technique when tackling a kicker.

He referenced a number of incidents which should have been penalised last week but weren’t, with referees set to blow the whistle if defenders make unnecessary contact when kickers are in vulnerable positions.