Luke Keary has admitted he's likely 'done 100' hip drop tackles before, but that hasn't stopped the Roosters half declaring the tackle must be stamped out of the game.
Pat Carrigan was ruled out for four matches on Tuesday night as the latest star to earn the attention of the MRC after a nasty hip drop, this one breaking Jackson Hastings' leg and sidelining the half for five months.
The tackles have emerged as one of the biggest blights on the game in recent times, and players are getting severely injured from the wrestling-esque move.
Parramatta winger Haze Dunster tore his ACL, MCL and PCL in the pre-season after a nasty tackle from Tyrell Fuimaono, setting the pace for the rest of the season after the Dragons back-rower was handed a five-game ban before Round 1 had even started.
Luke Keary believes that while the tackles are a rest of 'bad technique or fatigue', however the half says there is no place in the game for the ugly tackle, despite admitting he'd committed the act multiple times himself.
“I honestly reckon I’ve done 100 of them and being light, I probably don’t pose a risk to the ballrunner. But watching them now, they look awful" Keary told the media on Wednesday.
“I can tell you none of the players are doing it on purpose, you’re just kind of getting in there to stop someone. But we have to stamp it out as a game.
“As a player, it’s not something we practice and it’s not something that any player would go in doing on purpose. It just happens under fatigue and poor technique."
Keary also admitted the tackle is 'definitely' influenced by wrestling techniques introduced over the past two decades as clubs try to halt opposition team's momentum, and get them onto their back to slow the play the ball.
Being taught to go two defenders high and one low puts heavy emphasis on the player tackling the legs and where he starts and finishes contact, but despite the horrid outcomes, Keary believes the players aren't trying to harm one another.
“It’s got to be stamped out... but as players we are definitely a lot more wary now going into tackles not to slide down on each other.
“You don’t want to see other players hurt, you don’t to be the one to hurt them either so we’re definitely wary of it.
“But I can tell you at the start of the year it wasn’t something we thought about or thought was too dangerous to be honest.”
Carrigan will take the field for the final regular season game in a months time, though players must find alternatives quick if they are to avoid missing a finals game over such an ugly tackle.
