Originally posted by Headless Chook
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It annoys me that people are swallowing the BS that's been thrown around ever since this incident occurred. Lets go through them:
1. Billy - I thought he was going to step back inside and that's why I made contact with my shoulder.
If Billy seriously thought Feki was going to step off his left foot and come back inside, why was he sprinting across as fast as possible? If he truly expected Feki to come back inside he would have slowed down slightly approaching contact to avoid being wrong footed and been able to wrap his arms around the player and effect a legal tackle
2. Andrew Webster - Its not a shoulder charge, its a shoulder collision
The word collision makes it sound likes this was all just an unfortunate accident. Once again its smoke and mirrors. Slater charged across field with one thought in mind - to bundle Feki into touch by any means possible and this was to him with the full force of his shoulder. Read that again. He charged across and hit him with his shoulder. This wasn't Feki stepping inside and accidentally making contact with Slater's shoulder, this was a deliberate act by Slater
3. This tackle has happened before, look at the Waqa-Blake tackle.
These two tackles were completely different. Waqa-Blake's arm actually comes across in front of the player in a wrapping manner as he his hit with the shoulder. Also, Waqa-Blake's feet actually leave the ground as he dives towards the player in an effort to knock him into touch. Slater could have made a similar style tackle if he wished, but he went all in and whilst he achieved the desired result, it's an illegal play
4. Mal Meninga/Laurie Daley/Darren Lockyer and co - I hope common sense prevails and he gets off this charge.
So common sense only comes into play when its a legend of the game about to play his last game. Where was the common sense in 2004 when Ricko missed the GF for an open handed swipe at Nathan Fien? Did Isaac Luke deserve to miss a GF for his tackle in 2014? You can't pick and choose when to apply the rules of the game.
At the end of the day I think he will get off. Not because it was a legitimate tackle but because I think the weight of public opinion and the pressure from the media will see the NRL too scared of the backlash they will cop if they suspend him. I hope he gets off and I hope we belt them into oblivion and make him wish he had been suspended.
1. Billy - I thought he was going to step back inside and that's why I made contact with my shoulder.
If Billy seriously thought Feki was going to step off his left foot and come back inside, why was he sprinting across as fast as possible? If he truly expected Feki to come back inside he would have slowed down slightly approaching contact to avoid being wrong footed and been able to wrap his arms around the player and effect a legal tackle
2. Andrew Webster - Its not a shoulder charge, its a shoulder collision
The word collision makes it sound likes this was all just an unfortunate accident. Once again its smoke and mirrors. Slater charged across field with one thought in mind - to bundle Feki into touch by any means possible and this was to him with the full force of his shoulder. Read that again. He charged across and hit him with his shoulder. This wasn't Feki stepping inside and accidentally making contact with Slater's shoulder, this was a deliberate act by Slater
3. This tackle has happened before, look at the Waqa-Blake tackle.
These two tackles were completely different. Waqa-Blake's arm actually comes across in front of the player in a wrapping manner as he his hit with the shoulder. Also, Waqa-Blake's feet actually leave the ground as he dives towards the player in an effort to knock him into touch. Slater could have made a similar style tackle if he wished, but he went all in and whilst he achieved the desired result, it's an illegal play
4. Mal Meninga/Laurie Daley/Darren Lockyer and co - I hope common sense prevails and he gets off this charge.
So common sense only comes into play when its a legend of the game about to play his last game. Where was the common sense in 2004 when Ricko missed the GF for an open handed swipe at Nathan Fien? Did Isaac Luke deserve to miss a GF for his tackle in 2014? You can't pick and choose when to apply the rules of the game.
At the end of the day I think he will get off. Not because it was a legitimate tackle but because I think the weight of public opinion and the pressure from the media will see the NRL too scared of the backlash they will cop if they suspend him. I hope he gets off and I hope we belt them into oblivion and make him wish he had been suspended.
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