IS RUGBY LEAGUE GOING TOO SOFT? : Tue Sep 12, 2017 5:41 pm  

watch the video below and go to 3:56,for Paul Sykes to get a yellow card for that is appalling, that coupled with Liam Watts' sending off I really think our great game is going down the same soft road as football. I used to see players week in week out getting picked off their feet and dumped hard into to turf, yet as soon as someone lifts a players leg up the ref is blowing penalties. I understand it is the hardest contact sport in existence and serious injuries can occur, but we are making the game less physical and players will be too afraid to tackle soon, for fear of a 5 game ban. I also think banning the shoulder charge was wrong, as long as it wasn't to the head. Watch the clip below and tell me if that is foul play? its not even a penalty let alone a sin bin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=votY2CUQKBY

watch the video below and go to 3:56,for Paul Sykes to get a yellow card for that is appalling, that coupled with Liam Watts' sending off I really think our great game is going down the same soft road as football. I used to see players week in week out getting picked off their feet and dumped hard into to turf, yet as soon as someone lifts a players leg up the ref is blowing penalties. I understand it is the hardest contact sport in existence and serious injuries can occur, but we are making the game less physical and players will be too afraid to tackle soon, for fear of a 5 game ban. I also think banning the shoulder charge was wrong, as long as it wasn't to the head. Watch the clip below and tell me if that is foul play? its not even a penalty let alone a sin bin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=votY2CUQKBY

Re: IS RUGBY LEAGUE GOING TOO SOFT? : Tue Sep 12, 2017 5:45 pm  

Stick within the rules and you can tackle as hard as you want. That's not being soft.

Re: IS RUGBY LEAGUE GOING TOO SOFT? : Tue Sep 12, 2017 6:23 pm  

I liked it when players were really dirty and they'd be loads of fights. I preferred it to the actual rugby.

Nothing better than when McDermott and or Skerret would elbow or punch someone in the head. And Dannatt on Handley? loving brilliant.

Re: IS RUGBY LEAGUE GOING TOO SOFT? : Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:02 pm  

Definitely too soft, Jim Mills and Bill Ashurst would get about 4 appearances a year with today's rules.

Re: IS RUGBY LEAGUE GOING TOO SOFT? : Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:54 pm  

Its terrible that they care about player health & welfare isn't it !?!?

Re: IS RUGBY LEAGUE GOING TOO SOFT? : Tue Sep 12, 2017 9:07 pm  

Absolutely!

When I dislocated my knee whilst playing rugby league as a kid, I was told to walk it off. These days it would be a medical emergency.

Re: IS RUGBY LEAGUE GOING TOO SOFT? : Wed Sep 13, 2017 7:44 am  

Damo-Leeds wrote:

Absolutely!

When I dislocated my knee whilst playing rugby league as a kid, I was told to walk it off. These days it would be a medical emergency.

What !?

Not even a quick wipe first with the magic sponge ?

Wow, they played the game hard in your neck of the woods.

Re: IS RUGBY LEAGUE GOING TOO SOFT? : Wed Sep 13, 2017 7:49 am  

Sheldon wrote:

And Dannatt on Handley? loving brilliant.

I agree with you regards the fights but the cheap shot Elbow smash from Dannatt on Hanley that broke his jaw in several places has no place in any era of the game for me.

Re: IS RUGBY LEAGUE GOING TOO SOFT? : Wed Sep 13, 2017 8:48 am  

Biff Tannen wrote:

I agree with you regards the fights but the cheap shot Elbow smash from Dannatt on Hanley that broke his jaw in several places has no place in any era of the game for me.

I think he was kidding

Re: IS RUGBY LEAGUE GOING TOO SOFT? : Wed Sep 13, 2017 9:19 am  

If all players and clubs could sign some sort of disclaimer about damages and loss of earnings etc, we could go back to 70's style cheap shots and a proper bit of biff on the field of play but, these days, there is so much risk of someone suing someone else ore the organisation they are employed by, everything has to change.
A decent scrap would get the players going, lift the crowd and probably add to the spectacle of the game and yes, everything in life is becoming far too sanitised but, it will never go back to "the good old days".