Gillmeister on hip drop tackles and NRL injury crisis
It is ironic and somewhat alarming that in its efforts to protect players from injury that nine rounds into the 2023 season almost 20 percent of contracted NRL players are sidelined with injuries.
Of the 510 players contracted to the 17 NRL clubs, more than 90 are currently unavailable due to injury.
Some of the players missing from action are game-breakers.
They include Canterbury’s Josh Addo Carr (ankle, round 15) and Villiame Kikau (pectoral, round 22), Raider’s winger Nic Cotric (hamstring, round 13), Sharks duo Baden Hamlin-Uele (knee, round 14) and Toby Rudolph (knee, round 18), Dolphin’s half Sean O’Sullivan (pectoral, round 18), Gold Coast hooker Sam Verrills (collarbone, indefinite), and fullback AJ Brimston (hamstring, round 16).
Other game-influencing absentees are Manly’s international forward Jake Trbojevic (calf, round 15) and teammate, Josh Schuster (quad, indefinite), Newcastle hooker Jayden Bailey (knee, season), Parramatta’s representative forward Reagan Campbell-Gillard (groin, round 17), Penrith forward Liam Martin (hamstring, indefinite) and Wests Tigers playmaker Adam Doueihi (ACL, season).
That’s an alarming and concerning statistic given the NRL’s efforts to eradicate contact with the head and clean up the game by using a record number of sin-binning in 2023.
Some of those players are victims of the hip drop tackle, the latest scourge to hit the NRL.
There have been 16 players charged with the illegal tackle after just nine rounds with another 18 rounds to play.
Tackling guru Trevor Gillmeister told bettingsite.com.au the hip drop was a remnant from wrestling, which spawned a number of other unsavoury tackles including the chicken wing and crusher.
“This is all a hangover from the wrestling,” said Gillmeister, the captain and hero of Queensland’s impossible 3-0 Origin series clean sweep of NSW in 1995.
“The speed of the game, the size of the athletes, and they don’t reward to low legs tackles anymore.
“I remember working with little Preston Campbell at the Titans and he used to chop the big guys down that quick, but now if you do it you are told by the referee to release and get out immediately, so you are virtually penalised for a good tackle around the boot laces.
“If a small bloke tackles a much bigger bloke around the legs, he should get a few extra seconds to hold on.
Gillmeister believes part of the current problem is because the game became quite boring a few seasons ago when rucks and play-the-balls were taking 10 seconds or more.
“I was at the Titans at the time and the game was slow. The game was boring,” he said.
“The six to go helped make It more entertaining and then that got a little out of control.
“They overdid that and now they are trying to find that happy balance.”
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Gillmeister believes technique can reduce the hip drop if players learn the right technique.
“It is avoidable,” he said.
“It’s all about getting your feet in the right position. A lot of them come in (to the tackle) horizontally with flat feet and they try a chest a bloke and hold him up so another defender can come in.
“It’s poor technique and once your feet leave the ground you are in trouble.”
Known as “The Axe” for his ability to chop down much bigger opponents with a lethal technique, Gillmeister made thousands of tackles during his 233 NRL games and 22 Origins for Queensland as well as three Test for Australia.
Did he ever do a hip-drop tackle?
“Never,” he claims.
The hip drop it is now the most dangerous tackle that has crept into the game.
Coaches swear players don’t practice it at training.
Players are adamant they don’t go onto the field with the intent of employing the tackle which has already resulted in some serious injuries, most notably to Parramatta forward Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Sharks forward Braden Hamlin-Uele, who are both facing extended periods on the sidelines.
The NRL’s head of Football Graham Annesley says officials have been working to rid the game of the hip drop tackle for a number of years but it has really only come to light this season as a serious issue.
Brisbane forward Payne Haas was suspended last week for an alleged hip drop tackle on Campbell-Gillard who is facing between 8-10 on the sidelines with a groin injury.
This weekend North Queensland forward Jeremiah Nanai was hit with a four-week suspension for the same illegal tackle employed on Cronulla rival Braden Hamlin-Uele.
The suspension will cost Nanai his place in Queensland’s Origin side for the opening game of the series next month.
So, what is a hip-drop tackle?
Loosely, it is when a defender tackles an opposition player, sliding down and dropping his full body weight on the back of the defender’s legs while having both his feet off the ground.
It’s not black and white.
In fact, it is very grey and not only confusing, to the players, coaches, and fans but also officials who deemed Haas’s tackle on Campbell-Gillard was not a hip drop as he was not sent to the sin bin and only penalised.
Former players and commentators disagreed on whether Nanai’s tackle last weekend was a hip drop.
Recently retired halfback Cooper Cronk was adamant Nanai’s tackle was a classic hip drop, whatever that is.
“Nanai is gone here, consistency with everything in the game at the moment. He has lost his legs and swung around the back. He is gone,” declared Cronk who was commentating on the game.
Matthew Johns agreed with Cronk but other commentators, including Gorden Tallis and Nathan Hindmarsh both questioned whether Nanai’s feet left the ground.
“I’m confused,” Tallis said.
Meanwhile, Gillmeister had a warning for this weekend’s Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium.
“Let’s not get too scared and spooked because of the fear there are going to be a thousand visits to the sin bin,” he said.
“Everyone take a deep breath and hopefully we will have a great weekend of footy.”
