Leeds Rhinos forward Adam Cuthbertson has demanded that dangerous tackles such as the ‘cannonball’ one he was a victim of in last Friday’s game against Wigan be outlawed from the game.
Cuthbertson was tackled dangerously during the victory against the Warriors, leading to Wigan forward Taulima Tautai being charged by the RFL’s disciplinary panel over the incident.
He pleaded not guilty but was banned for two games after being found guilty, and Cuthbertson told the YEP that it’s now time for someone to speak up and try and push through a ban on such tackles.
“It’s an unfortunate thing to happen,” Cuthbertson said. “You don’t really need that in the game, but teams continue to coach it and it’s not going to be cracked down on until officials stand up and do something about it.”
Cuthbertson wasn’t injured as a result of the tackle – but he has been injured by a similar tackle in the past, which strengthened his call to get rid of the tackles from the sport.
“I have only hurt my knee once in my whole career and that was from a very similar situation, so I’m not a big fan of it and I think it should be out of the game,” he said.
“Individuals have got to take responsibility on themselves and put a bit better effort into that sort of style of tackle and playing the game right, but nothing’s going to happen until someone speaks out.”
