Bellamy's blind eye to wrestling
26.07.2008
By: Dan Koch
Rugby League
MELBOURNE coach Craig Bellamy has again found himself at the centre of damning claims about his role in the growing use of grappling techniques in rugby league, allegedly removing himself from the team's training sessions with wrestling coach John Donehue to escape blame.
For more than thee years, the coach of the defending premier has strenuously denied he oversees the training of the potentially devastating jiu-jitsu techniques that his side is accused of introducing under Donehue's direction.
However, The Weekend Australian has learned Bellamy often excuses himself from most of the team's wrestling sessions, giving him complete deniability over what Donehue is teaching.
Several Storm players often attend classes at Donehue's Malvern East JiuJitsu and Grappling Gym outside club training hours.
The startling new revelations come in the wake of the latest round of outbursts from frustrated NRL coaches and players sick of the pall Melbourne's ugly use of grappling techniques has cast over the game.
On the heels of Nathan Brown, Ricky Stuart and Brad Fittler's demand the NRL immediately address the worrying trend or risk losing control of matches, Gold Coast Titans' coach John Cartwright revealed he has given his players unfettered support to react with force if they are the subject of the chokes, pressure point holds or joint manipulation.
The Titans square-off against the Storm at Robina next weekend and Cartwright said his players had his full backing to retaliate if they are subjected to the sort of treatment dished out by Storm players against St George Illawarra in Monday night's explosive clash.
``I would back what Browny said the other day about players now having every right to defend themselves if they cop that sort of thing,'' Cartwright said.
``If they are baited with that sort of thing I would expect them to react. There's no place for it. It is a blight on the modern game and I think we are coming to the point now where people are saying enough is enough. We aren't going to tolerate it any more.''
Cartwright said the growing unrest within the playing and coaching ranks reflected the NRL's failure to adequately monitor and police the use of wrestling and grappling holds and techniques.
It was in August last year that Melbourne was at the centre of a raft of accusations from Canberra and Brisbane over the introduction of spine locks, known in rugby league circles as ``the crusher''.
Earlier this year it was the ``chicken wing'' tackle, which involves players attacking the loose arm, applying pressure on the wrist, elbow and/or shoulder with submission holds to dominate the ruck area.
More recently, Cartwright said, Melbourne players had been attacking ankle, knees and the Achilles tendon of ball carriers in a bid to slow the play-the-ball.
While sympathetic, Cartwright said NRL referees and the match review panel simply did not have a full understanding of what was happening to players around the ruck area, nor do they appreciate the danger involved.
``It is a matter of blokes from sides who are pretty well versed in this stuff trying it on early and if the ref lets them get away with it then things just deteriorate,'' Cartwright said.
It is a feeling that is shared by two of the most knowledgeable voices in Australia on the subject.
Jiujitsu expert, Chris Haseman, and international freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling referee, Larry Papadopoulos, warned serious injuries were inevitable if the game's administrators continue to turn a blind eye to the damage such holds can cause in an uncontrolled environment as a rugby league field.
Several NRL coaches including Brisbane's Wayne Bennett and Canberra's Neil Henry were stunned to learn Donehue had attended the NRL's pre-season coaches conference on behalf of the Storm in which they discussed the need to eradicate dangerous wrestling techniques.
Papadopoulos, who works with the Rabbitohs and the Eels, said Souths' coach Jason Taylor took the warning to heart and with an NRL referee in tow had him work extensively with his players on adjusting their ruck area techniques.
``The result was we got wrestled out of the game for the first six or eight matches,'' Papadopoulos said.
``I mean, I have sympathy for the NRL referees. They have a million things to watch and if you don't know exactly what you are looking for it is easy to miss things.''
Papadopoulos pointed out it was not even a case of waiting for serious injuries to occur, with Eels captain Nathan Cayless suffering a serious shoulder injury against the Storm last season courtesy of a tackle known as a ``ripper''. It involved two players pinning his legs and a third using his loose arm as leverage to try to flip him on to his back.
``It is impossible for a lot of the referees and the video blokes to pick these things up because they simply don't know what they are looking for,'' Haseman said.
``Some of the things we are seeing these days have no place on a football field.''
