The Manly centre was knocked out seconds into a must-win semi-final trying to tackle a man 20kg heavier. It’s time coaches think about their approach to the kick-off.
Player A is a 108kg, 15-year NRL veteran, prowling at the back of the field, waiting to explode onto the ball with at least 20 metres of running at near top speed before colliding with an opponent.
But here’s a novel idea: why don’t coaches start telling players to kick off into the middle third of the field, where their biggest and most powerful forwards are likely to make the opening tackle, rather than creating a Waerea-Hargreaves v Koula mismatch? There’s also an added benefit of aiming for the posts, and potentially causing chaos by hitting them.
There have also been forwards such as Canterbury’s Poasa Faamausili and North Queensland’s Sam McIntyre who have had head collisions defending from the kick-off in 2024. It can happen to anyone.
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