Stuart revives grapple tackle storm
23.07.2008
THE ongoing grapple tackle furore which has clouded Melbourne's recent domination of the competition appears to have strained another of Storm coach Craig Bellamy's long-standing friendships.
A furious Bellamy reportedly rang close friend and former Raiders team-mate Ricky Stuart to express his disgust and disappointment following Stuart's claim on a Sydney radio station that Melbourne was again employing unethical and unlawful wrestling tactics to dominate the all-important ruck area.
It is a similar situation to that which led to the breakdown of the relationship between Bellamy and his former mentor of five years in Brisbane, Broncos coach Wayne Bennett.
Bennett and Stuart acknowledge Bellamy's outstanding ability as a coach, with both men having employed him as an assistant during their time at the helm of Australia's Test side. However, while they have not always seen eye to eye, Bennett and Stuart share a mutual disdain for the ugly wrestling tactics Melbourne has used while under the guidance of Bellamy and his right-hand man, controversial wrestling coach John Donehue.
Bellamy's constant denials of using illegal tactics to gain the ascendancy in the play-the-ball area were torpedoed this year by former players Brett O'Farrell, Chris Walker and Ian Donnelly, who all admitted Donehue had worked extensively with them during their time at the Storm.
And Stuart said the Storm, which has been accused of being the mastermind behind the introduction of the dangerous grapple techniques, including the crusher and chicken-wing tackles, is again employing the notorious moves in defence.
``The month or six-week period where the referees are jumping on top of it is over,'' Stuart told Sydney radio 2KY.
``Now they're (Melbourne) back into it again and it's coming into the most important stage of the season. There's a technique on how they attack the head and they're getting away with it again.''
Stuart will almost certainly win support from several of his peers, with Bennett warning earlier in the year that serious and potentially career-ending injuries would result if the league did not better inform its referees and the match review panel, with several of the techniques almost impossible to identify without an extensive knowledge of wrestling and jiu-jitsu.
Storm skipper Cameron Smith, dismissed the complaints as sour grapes, claiming opponents were simply looking for ways to derail the Melbourne juggernaut, which appears to be rolling strongly towards a second consecutive premiership.
``It seems to happen every year at this time, leading into the finals,'' he said. ``We're seven weeks out. Whether it's trying to get the referee looking at us a lot more or trying to put us off our game -- I'm not entirely sure.
``But we're used to it now. It's been happening since '03, so we're now in our sixth season where it happens at this time.''
It is understood the latest drama was sparked by Dragons five-eighth Jamie Soward, who claimed to be the victim of a crusher tackle in the lead-up to the wild brawl in Monday night's clash with Melbourne.
But Smith defended his team-mates, adamant the Storm no longer practices any illegal tackling techniques.
``It happens in every game where blokes end up around the head or neck. Pretty much every time it's accidental,'' Smith said.
