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What do you guys reckon about the Napa hit?
I reckon he did lead with the head and it was reckless. He leans and rises far too high, only ever made contact with the opponent's head; if it was his arm, he'd have been in trouble too. That whole set was full of Roosters guys trying to launch themselves in the tackle.
Considering a guy can be binned now for backing through the ruck or being offside a 3rd time, I can't see how so many people are complaining that Napa got binned for a dangerous action.
I'm sure he didn't intend it, but that's not the point, and how were the Broncos having to field one less bloke because Napa's head is like a scud missile?
They've shown no balls in then not suspending him afterwards, takes away all the credit of the referees trying to penalise safer play.
Refs got it wrong …
Nothing in it .
Except the fact he lead with his head until his head came into contact with the face of the victim.
Left field but does anyone think it's a modified shoulder charge
Yes I do think it's a modified s/c. I still can't understand people defending Napa, and the front-on shot isn't as good a picture, but the wide-angle side-on shot shows just how bad an attempt it is.
Shoulder charges were outlawed because it became apparent that they were dangerous, after 100 years of being in the game. Shoulder charges often work just fine, but they also often come off badly and result in unnecessary concussions, which we have learned are dangerous over time to footballers.
Here Napa barely gets below chest height at any time, then rises into the tackle. By the time he's reached Sims he's above shoulder height and still rising, arms out to the side… he literally doesn't have his arms even to parallel by the time he's headbutted Sims in the face.
Some commentators saying head collisions are in inevitable part of the game and you can't remove your head from the front of the tackle action. Yeah sure, but how many head clashes in the NRL are between top of skull with jaw? Most head clashes are face-on-face or temples, and often from friendly fire. The only way to clash your skull with someone's face (whilst they are standing) is to attack the headspace with your head, and that should be outlawed.
Other commentators say Sims stepped into it - if he had stayed his course, Napa would still have either headbutted him or collected him with his left shoulder, because he was just far too high and not attempting to get his shoulders in place.
Think about it yourself, if you are setting for a tackle like Napa, left shoulder, and someone steps off his right foot (towards your right shoulder), the normal reaction is to turn your head left and try and take the tackle right shoulder. Because if you don't, you are putting your head into the path of the runner and often that ends badly.
In other words, you need to take the tackle on the shoulder that he runs at, not simply the shoulder you start off lining up with. Most players will do this and end up with their head behind the runner, safely away.
Napa instead sets left, gets stepped to his right and just follows through at head-height, so his head connects. If he keeps doing this, he's going to either break his own neck or continue head-butting guys in the face, because you can't tackle people around the head, doesn't matter if it's your arms or head. Napa essentially often leads with his head because he sets his shoulder and commits to the tackle far too early far too often - sometimes this means a beautiful shot, because he's in place with full weight into the action, and sometimes he destroys someone's head.
In fact I think Napa is potentially more dangerous yet some how treated more leniently because it was his head. If it was a shoulder or a loose arm nobody would be complaining about the punishment, but some people think he should be let off because he caught the guy with his head.
