Outlaw wrestling now: Bennett
07.04.2008
By: Dan Koch, Additional reporting: Margie McDonald
BRISBANE coach Wayne Bennett claims rugby league is in danger of losing the key point of difference separating it from rugby union, and has again called for the law-makers to eradicate the so-called wrestle from the play-the-ball area.
An outspoken critic of the introduction of wrestling techniques into the game, Bennett said yesterday the NRL needed to act on what he sees as the worrying focus which is now placed on slowing the play-the-ball.
``You don't want to see it in the game because it doesn't enhance the game,'' Bennett said.
``I do not enjoy what we see on the ground in our game and we spend a lot of time on the ground. Rugby does that and we've got to be careful we're not going down that path.''
Bennett's call comes after Melbourne prop Adam Blair was placed on report for his ``chicken wing'' tackle on Broncos hooker Michael Ennis in the second half of Friday night's game.
Despite claims from the Storm that Ennis had ``milked'' the injury to earn a penalty, he was still nursing a sore shoulder yesterday, more than 48 hours after the incident that saw his elbow and shoulder joints locked and wrenched backwards by Blair.
The Test prop is likely to face a contrary conduct charge for the one-armed tackle, which bore a striking resemblance to submission techniques used in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Bennett said it was obvious the technique was the latest in a long line of dangerous methods designed to slow the ball carrier getting back to his feet quickly.
``Absolutely. I've got no grey area with that and I hope the league doesn't see it as a grey area either,'' he said.
``Somebody has come back with an alternative to the grapple -- that's what we're probably seeing now.''
Melbourne has long been seen as the forerunner of wrestling techniques. Storm was credited with introducing the grapple tackle, as well as the ripper, crusher and chicken wing.
Coach Craig Bellamy has long maintained his innocence against allegations he instructed his players to use the techniques and again yesterday suggested his team was being singled-out by officials.
``(The chicken wing tackles) happen in every game when the tackle is incomplete,'' Bellamy said.
``All teams train to do that. So we have been a little unfairly targeted there.
``We're all looking for a way to do things better; all looking for an edge. The ruck area has been an area where people have been looking for ways to get an advantage.''
However, there appears to be growing evidence against the recently appointed NSW coach, with former Melbourne players Ian Donnelly and Chris Walker the latest to admit they were schooled extensively in grappling techniques during their time at Melbourne.
``We did a lot of work with different techniques around the ruck area and trying to control the speed of the play-the-ball,'' Donnelly said.
``I don't know if you could say we were taught anything illegal. I know as soon as there started to be a focus on the grapple and people started pointing it out, we started working on different things.''
Walker, too, threw his support behind retired forward Brett O'Farrell's claims they not only practised the techniques at Melbourne but were castigated in video sessions for not using grapples every chance they had.
O'Farrell said wrestling coach John Donehue was an instrumental part of Bellamy's team, a claim backed up by former State of Origin winger Walker.
``When I was there we did a lot of work with different locks and holds in tackles,'' Walker said.
``The wrestling and grappling training was a big part of the whole week's program.''
