The blow to the foot is more likely to cause an injury than a body on body contact where the defensive player is in a position to take the hit.
I think it's just any act that involves using your feet towards the opposition that RL fans see as a dog act. Kicking and tripping is for soccer.
I don't think this is even remotely true. You could come up with some outrageous 'what if' scenarios but in general, legal hits and tackles in rugby league are far more dangerous. The speeds, sizes and forces involved are huge and the frequency with which players get injured in regulation tackles shows that. Tripping in general is dangerous but in the context of rugby league, it definitely isn't. I think it puts your body under far less stress than a normal hit-up and is much less severe than other illegal moves, such as high shots, attacking the legs, crusher tackles, grapples, chicken wing tackles, pressuring shoulder or knee joints ... I don't think you need to dress it up as a health and safety issue when the truth - that it is a cheap and cynical foul and has never been an accepted part of rugby league - is sufficient.
Well said. It's not the propensity to cause harm, it's the cynicism involved in such an act. Plain and simple cheap shot.
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If people were tripping constantly in rugby league you would likely see a lot injuries. Just because it doesn't happen in great quantity doesn't make it less dangerous. There is a reason why it isn't legal and it isn't because its "a dog act".
It's illegal for the same reason hitting people high is illegal; it's dangerous sure. The difference is in the intent. High tackles are usually either accidents or just plain careless. What Reynolds did was malicious and cynical. In terms of actual injury though, it's much of a muchness IMO. I don't see any reason to say tripping is especially pernicious in terms of a propensity to cause injury.
Reynolds had a sustained brain explosion last night. I suppose that's what's going to happen occasionally when you play that aggressive niggling style. I reckon he's probably looking at a bunch of low range offences that'll add up to a decent amount of time on the sidelines.
The only other studs to the face incident I can recall is when Slater kicked John Skandalis in the head and got 7 weeks for it, but that was a lot worse.
Gallen got off one a couple of years ago on the grounds of there was no way the judiciary could prove it was intentional.
No doubt, if tripping was more common you would see an increase in the number of injuries but I doubt it would be significant. Tripping just isn't that dangerous. Based on what? Let us take a trip down the history of rugby ... This is the guy who helped introduce rugby league to Australia: And this is the guy who allegedly invented rugby: He's wearing a fucking bow tie while playing rugby. Do you not think that when the game has its origins dating back to this time and these kind of people, that certain behaviours might be outlawed because they are just seen as unsporting or cheap?
Don't be so melodramatic; you can't "easily" fuck your knee tripping. It could happen but you'd be damn unlucky to have it happen. Just like you'd be damn unlucky to blow your knee because your teammate gives you a bad pass ... just ask Elijah Taylor. Sport is just an inherently dangerous activity and you can conceivably suffer a terrible injury at almost any time. Tripping is just one of those things where we view it as a really bad act even if it isn't overly dangerous. Its cultural and social, similar to the way kicking is generally seen as a worse than punching. Or how spitting is frowned upon because it is so disgusting even if it isn't dangerous.
This. Football players are forever being tripped and exaggerating their trips such that they fly through the air like Superman ... hardly any real injuries there. Trips will result in some injuries. But so does slapping people. Neither are particularly dangerous.
He came out and said that the only charge he is worried about is the high shot. The trip or the kick to the face don't warrant suspension
