BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Wakefield coach Willie Poching and Hull FC boss Brett Hodgson have both queried the crackdown on high tackles after Jake Connor was red carded in the 16-12 victory over Trinity.
Connor was sent off for a shot to the head of Lee Gaskell, the third send off in the opening round of Super League after Dylan Napa and James Bentley.
Poching said he understands why the RFL is clamping down on attacks to the heads of players, but feels rugby league could lose part of its gladiatorial appeal as part of the change.
“I understand where the game’s going with it as far as protecting players, especially long-term,” he said.
“The concussion protocols they’re bringing in, I’m all for it. But I’m not sure looking at most of the games over the course of the weekend if it’s the look that we want, with teams playing with 11 and 12.
“You’ve got people you’re enticing to come and watch a contest. I think some of that is the contest element being taken away when we’ve got players sitting out on the field.
“Some of those situations just can’t be helped. You’ve got big fellas, 120 kgs, going into a ball carrier into the mud trying to slow down. I go back to it again, I do know where the RFL is coming from and we’re coaching it up to protect them.
“But we’re also asking our players to play aggressively and get emotionally up to be full of contact. But then switch off in a second. It’s tough at times.
“But I didn’t see what that red card [for Connor] was for, there was one the other day and I think it was similar to that – clenched fist, contact with the head.
“As coaches, we’ve just got to coach our players to be disciplined and to avoid those situations. But as a game we need to have a look at how it’s looking.”
Hodgson was also unsure if Connor deserved to be red carded: “I don’t know about the Jake Connor one, it didn’t look like a straight red for me. It seemed like a bit of an over-exaggeration.”
The Hull FC boss believes the sport needs to get the balance between yellow and red cards right.
“I think whenever there’s a change like this we go from zero to 100 way too quickly,” Hodgson admitted.
“And then I think it will take three or four weeks to understand what a red card is. Again, I want to be careful as I haven’t seen the close footage of Jake’s, but I didn’t think it was a red card when it happened.
“I thought with the current climate it was a yellow maybe, as it did hit him up high. But there was no intent, he was falling over, it was clumsy.
“But we need to get the balance between sending off and yellow cards, or even just a penalty.
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