NRL

Three of the NRL’s top players of the past decade have offered a fascinating dissection of the fall-out from the Phoenix Crossland tackle that left Panthers captain Nathan Cleary with a devastating leg injury.

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Speaking on the One Six Seven podcast, Melbourne stars Jahrome Hughes, Cameron Munster and former Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen all agreed in principle with the decision to send the Knights hooker off. 

However their conversation highlighted the real complexities and difficulties facing the NRL as it tries to stamp the ‘hip drop’ out of the game.

Someone who knows plenty about serious leg injuries, Papenhuyzen said attacking players needed to be protected and even suggested send-offs would help to ensure star players aren’t intentionally targeted by opponents, particularly in high-stakes matches such as finals.

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“It (the Nathan Cleary injury) raises that question… do you target someone’s best player and potentially sacrifice a sin bin to take them out of the game?” Papenhuyzen asked his former teammates.

“Obviously it’s not the moral thing to do but I guess this send off might set the precedent…. if you severely hurt someone they have to take into account the injury or if the player is not coming back on the field. 

“I’m all for that… yes there were much worse (tackles) this year, but I think you do have to take in the account if that person is able to come back… it’s obviously hard to police, but it just makes sense in my head.”

‘Hopefully clubs start practicing how to not get in that situation’

Jahrome Hughes was in agreement suggesting hip-drop style tackles should be treated the same was as head-high tackles.

“I think it’s the same as a bad head high which you would get sent off for,” Hughes said.

“You look at the concussions and neck injuries they can cause, but then these hip drop tackles can cause broken legs and syndesmosis injuries which keep you out of the game for a long time. 

“I think the best thing we can try to do is stamp that out by sending people off that do it… hopefully clubs then start practicing how to not get in that situation.”

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Papenhuyzen likened it the way the game has previously cracked down on cannonball tackles, and admitted many players may need to modify their tackling techniques ahead of the 2027 season.

“The (hip drop) technique was sort of brought in because they got rid of the ‘cannonball’ where you can’t just charge in at the legs,” he said.

“We learned that you just have to keep your feet if you’re going into the legs.

“Obviously when you fatigue you don’t really think about it (tackling technique), so is it more of a thing to practice at training under fatigue?”

‘Send him off regardless of the incident or injury’

Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster agreed change begins on the training paddock, but added it’s also critical for referees and NRL to have consistency across the entire season.

“You definitely have to do a lot of work (on tackling technique) under fatigue and I think that begins at the start of the pre-season,” Munster said.

“But I also think the NRL needs to come out really early at the start of next year and go ‘hey if you get done with a hip drop this is what’s happening’ so you know the repercussions of what you’ve done. 

“This season regardless of the injury, we’ve all either been put on report or sent for 10 in the bin… but unfortunately because one of the best players we’ve ever seen has had a freak accident we’ve now gone reactive and sent someone off (Crossland).

“I don’t have a problem sending him off, but it’s been happening since the start at the start … yet that’s the first ever send off for a hip drop.

“If it’s a hip drop at the start of the year, round one next year, send him off regardless of the incident or injury.

“If we can get a bit more black and white instead of having grey areas then we’re not going to have people blow up going, ‘how come he could stay on the field but this guy didn’t’?”

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