Jeez mate, take your Wire specs off. Most people, myself included, thought the hit on Hansen was awesome (although, if I'm honest, I did think he connected with the head as well as the shoulder!

) However the tackle pictured is illegal. Simple as....

He connected with Hansens head (which is why Hansen ended up seeing stars) with the top part of his arm which if you watch the replay on BBC iPlayer of the SL show you can see he swings to do so. Go to 15 mins 45 seconds and watch from there.

Here is the build up as he comes in and you can see his arm is out wide.

[urlhttp://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/z-qcsog7TMx6bzrZlhlZPQ?feat=directlink[/url

and here is where he connects:

[urlhttp://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/qoOyYhpWWr5BJNXRof1Gqw?feat=directlink[/url

Quite often still images of a split second of an incident makes things look worse than they are but it actually looks worse than these two still images if you watch it through from this angle on the iPlayer.

Morely comes in and basically belts Hansen's head with his bicep. No idea why anyone considers this a legal hit.

Dave

I thought it was just me that had good eyesight on here.

Hansen is trying to avoid the impact by trying to spin out of the collision, hence why he's side on in your picture, he gets his head in the wrong posistion and cops the full force of Morley's shoulder and bicep. Nothing wrong with it, end of.

You clearly have not watched the video because for a start Morely's shoulder doesn't connect at all. It's his arm.

If you watch the video you will see Morely swing a stiff arm to connect with Hansen. It's as plain as day Morely is winding up to do that in the first picture and that is what happens.

What Hansen was doing doesn't alter that.

Dave

I like Morley and i dont think there was anything wrong with his hit on Hansen this is rugby not football, things like that are what make the sport. However I noticed Morley every time went to run at the smallest man on the pitch, either Deacon or Leuluai and mostly ended up getting smashed by Leuluai

Outplayed by both Fielden and Coley on Saturday.

I,ve watched several times, paused it at the point of impact and its clearly shoulder and bicep, to say its a stiff arm is quite laughable. Morley went for the shoulder charge and Hansen tried to avoid it, i'm sure the Wigan players near the tackle would have had something to say if it was a stiff arm.

Join the queue to disagree with DaveO



Then get in line for the SpecSavers queue



It was a stiff arm and this "its ruby not football" line of argument when applied to this incident - well it's a load of tosh IMO.

Dave

So Morely runs with his left arm cocked like that normally does he? And it was just pure chance he twists his body round, keeping his arm stiff and making no attempt to actually tackle Hansen so his arm impacts the way it did? Open your eyes.

Dave

Your the one who needs there eyes open pal, there was 60 seconds left, we were losing, Morley went for a big hit to try and force the error, it was a clear shoulder charge which unfortuantly ended up making contact with Hansen's head because of the way Hansen tried to spin from the collision. Stop trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill, about 99% of posters on here who saw the hit thought it was a great tackle, the other 1% should watch rugby union if they don't want to see shoulder charges.

One of the first games I saw at Central Park was a challenge cup fixture in the early seventies against Warrington. It was close until John Bevin broke through and the last line of defence was Clarkey's Dad. Colin put Bevin on his arris with the same sort of tackle as Morley used on Hanson. Needless to say Colin took an early bath and Wire romped home.

It was never a shoulder charge in a million years. You don't drop your arm and swing it round around like that when you do a shoulder charge. Morely's body pivoted to round so he could do what he did. You can see him set himself for it in the first of those two stills I posted and if you watch the video you can plainly see how his body moves.



I think 99% of posters may just be taking a different view having seen it from another angle. I will bet Morely will attempt this again some time during the season and will get sent off as a result.

Dave

Ok, its easy for me to stick up for him being a Wire fan but for godsake, anyone who thinks Morley's hit on Hansen was illegal then wow, either read the rules or go and watch another sport! It was an outstanding tackle. There was no complaints from a Wigan player, and Hansen to his credit, shook it off and got on with the game despite the fact that he probably felt like he'd just ran into a tree.

Nice to see someone who has a bit of intelligence. Fair play mate, every time I read one of your posts it's always unbiased, no knee jerking and you don't 'see what you want to see' during games. Leuluai puts in a lot of those types of tackles like you said, and quite frankly, this is Rugby League. Big hits are a massive part of the game and we love it.

What makes me laugh at your comments the most is that Ive also seen many players, including your own, pull off similar and legal challenges on many occasions with brilliant execution and technique. You just don't like Morley do you? And your comments would only be justified on the occasions where its a direct aim at the head or unfortunately mis-timed. This was not the case on Saturday!

Its also a good job you don't watch the NRL etc, otherwise you'd be gathering evidence to compile a case looking to ban State of Origin because Rugby League players are getting a few hits in the middle of the park.

Thanks, Dave. The pictures on youtube confirmed what I thought had happened as I watched it live.
A blow to the shoulder can be painful but won't make you see stars. Others might not agree but that's what happens on a forum.
Just because I thought this deserved a penalty doesn't mean I don't like hard, rough play. The player I have seen who has laid out more players than any other was Billy Boston and he always hit them fairly but with complete boneshakers.

I don't have a problem with Morely. I just think that tackle was a swinging arm. Look where it starts (down by his side and behind him) and look where it finishes (wrapped round Hansen's head).



If this was the NRL Morely and Carvell would not have been facing Wigan IMO.

Dave

Wasn't it Sonny Bill who got sent off in one of his first games in Ruck and Snooze for a shoulder charge?

Indeed they are a lot stricter on swinging arm tackles, particularly on a kicker.

I didn't and still don't see anything wrong with Morleys hit, and I've watched it many mant times. Good strong solid defence, he never raises the arm above the shoulder.

We're not playing football.
There were no complaints from the Wigan players, Morley knew that there was a minute to go and he had to try to dislodge the ball.

And finally great play by Hansen for keeping hold of the ball.

Salty I'll bring you a dvd of the game on Friday if you want it.

That's okay, Rogue. I intend to watch it again tomorrow and make a copy. What a game.
I do think Morley's intention was to dislodge the ball and I also think that was Elima's but being tall men they both went too high and connected with the head. Hence the concussion like symptoms. Thought it was worth a penalty.

I personally thought Morleys tackle was worse than Elima's, although generally i think Elima is a snide it looked to me like he went to shoulder charge into the chest and miss timed the tackle.

Morley looked as though he intended to shoot a bit high in an attempt to flatten Hansen and get the ball back.

Saying that i was glad it wasnt penalised and Hansen got up with the ball as i think Morley's big hits are the best thing in RL.

The only thing wrong with that incident was Hansen was never actually 'tackled' as Morley hit him(legally) with the shoulder then backed off and no Wire player put a hand on him to make the ref call held(although he still did for some reason).

Well the RFL seem to be using the fact that a player has an open fist as evidence to suggest a lack of intention and I am fully aware that the converse of a statement is not necessarily true but surely if a player has a clenched fist and a stiff arm the intent is there regardless of point of contact. Swinging/stiff arms used to be punished, it is only very recently that the focus has been moved almost entirely onto point of contact. If you have a stiff arm and just happen to hit the players shoulder before their head, it is still an incredibly dangerous tackle and its only a matter of time before someone gets seriously injured.

The only difference between the two hits IMO is that Elima (i think out of instinct more than on purpose) raised his elbow. the RFL's veiws, Morley No charge www.therfl.co.uk/about/disciplinary.php

The only difference between the two hits IMO is that Elima (i think out of instinct more than on purpose) raised his elbow. the RFL's veiws, Morley No charge www.therfl.co.uk/about/disciplinary.php