A few years ago, it was the cannonball tackle, now it is the hip-drop tackle that is attracting the attention of rugby league officials in an attempt to stamp out any foul play.
A hip-drop tackle is where a defender grapples an attacking player, twisting their body and dropping their body weight on the lower legs of the opposing player. In doing so, it traps the attacker’s lower limbs in a dangerous position.
Of course, written down on paper, it is difficult to understand the action in practice, so the NRL has itself made the move of explaining the hip-drop tackle in an educational video.
Shared on the NRL’s official Twitter profile, the governing body has made a three-minute video:
The NRL has released the following explainer video on hip-drop tackles. pic.twitter.com/z19aTsbCjP
— NRL (@NRL) May 16, 2023
Recently, Wigan Warriors forward Mike Cooper was the victim of a hip-drop tackle from St Helens star Morgan Knowles, who was issued with a four-match ban.
It’s a tackle that Huddersfield Giants winger Jermaine McGillvary has called to be stamped out in the past: “It’s an awful tackle, it’s a tackle where the tackler doesn’t have control of their body and all the weight is going through you,” McGillvary said.
“It’s just a poor selection of tackling. It is tough in the heat of the moment, we are fatigued.
“Some of the players are living pay cheque to pay cheque but if that pay cheque goes for three months then a few of us some would be f*cked. It’s a tough game, it doesn’t need to have shitty techniques with it.
“I reckon stiffer sanctions would help, I don’t believe that people mean to do it with intent, I don’t care who the player is it’s just the technique. You are trying to slow down the ruck and the opposition.
“My knee is still not right and I’m still a bit p*ssed off with that.”
