North Queensland’s Makenzie Weale failed in an NRLW judiciary enchantment to problem the grading of a hip-drop sort out that Jamie Soward says is the worst he’s ever seen, with the Dragons coach calling on the sport to raised educate gamers to ensure it doesn’t occur once more.
Weale was despatched to the sin bin for a surprising sort out on younger Dragons ahead Alexis Tauaneai, who is about to overlook the remainder of the season with a suspected MCL harm.
Soward thought it ought to have been a straight ship off and a four-match ban, however the Cowboys took the case to the judiciary in a bid to have the grade three harmful contact cost diminished from two matches.
But their enchantment failed, with Weale now scrubbed out for 3 video games that may see her miss the remainder of NQ’s season.
“That’s probably the worst hip drop I’ve seen in men’s or women’s (rugby league),” Soward stated after his aspect’s thumping 48-16 win.
“I’m not being disrespectful and it’s not a personal attack, but I was really disappointed with that as coach.”
Hip-drop tackles have been a scourge on the ladies’s sport this season, with Sarah Togatuki and Annessa Biddle each suspended for the unlawful act every week earlier than Weale’s sort out.
Tauaneai has been one of many breakout gamers in Soward’s younger squad, with the teenage ahead in tears following the nasty contact that has ended her season.
“We got an email warning everyone about hip-drop tackles. We spoke to our players and made sure they were across it, but then in that game, she gets attacked from the legs,” Soward stated.
“She’s 18 and she said to me ‘I was really scared because I could feel it happening’. She’s been the best forward in the comp, so that’s shocking to hear.
“She wanted to play the second half, but I’m very cautious with those young girls. I’ve got a responsibility to look after them.
“We’re suspecting an MCL injury at worst.
“We’ve potentially only got two games left and she’s looking at an eight-week injury. She won’t play again for another seven months under the current rules with no competitions.”
It’s why Soward thinks the punishment ought to have been extra extreme and within the vary of Kennedy Cherrington’s four-match ban for a spear sort out that’s the longest in NRLW historical past.
“She got 10 in the bin, but we lost a player for the rest of the game,” he stated.
“She’s been suspended for two weeks, but we’ve lost a player for eight weeks. If it’s a men’s game and someone gets a grade three, then they’d probably get longer.”
Soward confused that this was nothing private in opposition to Weale and stated the sport needed to do extra to coach its gamers on the hazards of the sort out and how you can keep away from placing ball carriers in weak positions.
“The girls don’t have enough time to practise everything when it comes to education in the off-season,” he stated.
“We need examples of hip drops from the women’s game. We don’t need videos of men’s tackles.
“We got a video of tackles by Tyrell Fuimaono and Tariq Sims, but the girls need to see other girls doing it.
“We need to have an assigned referee spend one session a week telling us what they’re looking for because I’ve been playing rugby league since I was four and have 35 years of knowledge, but some of these girls are amazing athletes who have never played the game before.
“Some of them are learning how to tackle, so when they get fatigued they default to what they’ve heard from their coaches who tell them to get them to the ground. That’s when stuff like this happens.”
Source: www.foxsports.com.au