OMEGA

Big hit from Lino Forces an error 20 metres out, a few probing runs and then fed out to Lyne who crashes over 17 minutes Salford 0 v 12 Wakefield

10 minutes in and a very open game with both teams moving the ball around in very hot conditions. Kershaw intercepts a Lolehaya pass and races 50 metres upfield, the ball is fed out to Senior who shows his pace to outstrip the Salford cover and go under the posts

Loves a soap box does Carter, almost as much as he loves positioning himself as some kind of hero/martyr. However, if it gets dirty or opinion turns against his argument he’ll be nowhere near it, he’ll disappear like a fart in the wind.

The NRL will relocate every team to Queensland for at least 4 weeks as it seeks to avert a total shutdown due to increasing Covid-19 infection rates. Each Club will move into 1 of 4 Rugby League Hubs and will be allowed to relocate 41 members of staff. To make this possible, players will be allowed to move their family members after they serve a 14 day quarantine period, this will be paid for by the NRL. All this is being done following a study which revealed a total shutdown would cost the game at least $25 Million per week while the cost of relocating is $10 Million per week. Irrespective of the avoidance of the potential losses, this will cost the NRL at least $40 Million, this has been a strong decisive action by the NRL. This is unprecedented and has been a huge decision following the foresight of the NRL to Commission the study. It also serves as an example of the difference between the RFL and the NRL in terms of strong leadership as well as illustrating the huge difference in the financial power of each of the two main Rugby League competitions.

I’d like to see the Scandinavian, Germanic & Eastern European Countries take up Rugby League. They’re culturally tough warrior like people who I would have expected League’s combative nature to appeal to

Is it just me or do the new floodlights look a little duller than the old ones

There’s no way that Sinfield and Peacock could be truly objective whether they’re involved with Leeds or not. Either way, I’ve seen nothing from Sinfield or Peacock administratively to suggest they have the experience or intelligence to front an independent commission.

Innes Senior in again wakefield 14 - 16 Sts

Poor discipline from Sts, twice penalised for dissent and now penalised for a late hit on the kicker

What a finish that is from Innes Senior as 12 man Wakefield outstrip the Sts defence to create an overlap and score out wide. Lino hits the post and it goes over for a good touchline conversion Wakefield 10 - 16 Sts

Penalty to Sts, - Coote converts Wakefield 4 - 16 Sts

Bachelor (Wakefield) in the bin after a Sts intercept off a Westerman offload

Sloppy Sts give a penalty away while in possession and slick hands from Trinity sees a good finish from Kershaw. Lino misses the conversion Wakefield 4 - Sts 14

Lewis Dodd, great feet, dances past two awful attempted tackles and scores under the posts. - Coote converts Wakefield 0 - 14 Sts

Looks like Wakefield have now got Liam Kaye at Hooker after Ashurst who was at Hooker, is removed from the field for a HIA Test Surely it would be better to put Kaye or Senior at Full Back and move Hampshire to Hooker where many feel he’s most suited. Anyway Penalty - Coote converts Wakefield 0 - 8 Sts

Error from Trinity gifts Sts possessions and slick hands sends Percival in close to the sticks - Coote converts Trinity 0 - 6 Sts

We’ve got players missing but that’s a real stretch, TJ, Tupou, B Walker & K Wood is more realistic. TJs irreplaceable, Arundel is in better form than Tupou anyway but we’ll miss K Wood and B Walker though we could have brought Bowes in who would have done a good job and is an actual Hooker.

Well, I wasn’t far off with my guess at 6 was I

Once he’s served his 6 match NRL ban he’ll sign for another NRL club!

Exactly the point I was making! Good luck to the outside backs, halves and even second towers who have to open their bodies up to a rampaging Jason Tamalola, ball securely tucked under his arm and leading with his shoulder into the collision

My mistake on Thompson, I only got a fleeting glance at the player after the collision but if you want to dismiss my point because I misidentified a player then go ahead. I used a number of other collision sports that have or do engage the ‘Shoulder Charge’ in some form or another. None of them has any studies that show the shoulder charge dangerously places the participants in extra danger! Show me the proof that shoulder charges are dangerous, point me in the direction of a study that concludes that? I’ll willingly concede this point if you can definitively show me evidence, Medical, Scientific or even case studies that clearly show the shoulder charge caused injuries above and beyond a traditional tackle. I played the game at every level for 25 years, my understanding of the dangers of the sport are pretty deep as I’ve got the scars, broken bones, spinal nerve damage, the arthritic joints and misaligned fingers so you can’t play that card. The game brought in strong rules to outlaw contact with the head, they are there to punish players who get their tackle technique wrong or commit intentional foul play. There was no need or argument to ban the shoulder charge

I understand your analogy but they’re not the same! A footballer making a two footed challenge is off his feet, in the air and has no control whatsoever as a result of that. Also there are many many documented and extreme examples of a two footed challenge causing injury. A Rugby League player has control right up to the point of contact and can even reduce the level of impact right up to the point of collision. To my knowledge there are absolutely no examples of a shoulder charge causing any extra injury, serious or otherwise, above and beyond a normal tackle or collision. Rugby League already had rules in place to outlaw contact with the head of an opponent whether that was with a shoulder, an elbow, a forearm or a fist. Again, there is no evidence, Medical or Scientific that evidences any need for the shoulder charge to be removed. The game is a high impact collision sport and injuries occur in all manner of ways, many of them can be evidenced to show they are the cause of injury but they aren’t banned while the shoulder charge was banned because of an over reaction to the Dean Young & Tangi Ropati tackles. Tonight we saw an example of the repercussions of the shoulder charge ban on a defending player. When Sts player Thompson was allowed to carry the ball at speed, rotating his torso to lead with the shoulder into a Wigan defender. The defender is not allowed to meet that carry with a lead shoulder and therefore has to open up his sternum to the shoulder of the attacking player, now that is a recipe for injury. This is an imbalance in the collision which puts the defender in danger and it’s wholly created by the Governing bodies banning of the shoulder charge! So what next, ban the ball carrier from rotating his torso and leading with the shoulder? Where does that leave us as a sport because for me one of our most vital USPs is the gladiatorial nature of our players, their toughness and the spectacular collisions spectators have marvelled at for a century.

You’re moving the goal posts, you said that not wrapping the arms had been an offence since the shoulder charge was rightly banned! It wasn’t, at the time of the ban there was absolutely no mention of defenders having to wrap their arms around the ball carrier, not in the rules, not in general discussion and not in disciplinery reports. While were at it, you say the shoulder charge was “rightly banned” can you reference any scientific papers, medical cases or a number of players who were injured as a result of a shoulder charge that wasn’t already covered by the rules regarding contact to the head! I researched it at the time and there were no studies, Medical or Scientific, that offered any kind of evidence to support the notion that shoulder charges were the cause of a surfeit of injuries in either code of Rugby, NFL, NHL, Ausie Rules, Gaelic Football or any other contact sport. There was only a knee jerk reaction to 2 tackles, one in both hemispheres, Greg Inglis on Dean Young and Rangi Chase on Tangi Ropati. Both of which were already covered by rules regarding contact to the head of an opponent. Now, I know the shoulder charge is gone, but you say it was”rightly banned” and many people disagree with that and feel the game has been sanitised beyond recognition! So can you offer me any solid evidence, that supports your opinion, in the form of a case study(ies) Medical Cases or Scientific Publication that support that!

And still your answer is wrong! when the shoulder charge was banned there was absolutely no mention of ‘not wrapping the arms around the ball carrier’ as a definition of a shoulder charge, none!!

That’s quite simply not true!