UPDATE: www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/31983283

UPDATE: www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/31983283

According to the RFL though "Player takes hold of leg of opponent in order to complete tackle. Does not take leg beyond natural range of movement."



So forcing someone into the splits is completely natural, the disciplinary would think again if someone tried it on them.



There appears to be quite a few of these "natural range of movement" reports this week.

Cunningham not happy with smiths comments after game. Wonder if he's seen the pics on Twitter! www1.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... ans-injury

Cunningham not happy with smiths comments after game. Wonder if he's seen the pics on Twitter! www1.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... ans-injury

Well kc had time to put his brain in gear and still failed. Where does smith say anything regarding saints players or anyone trying to deliberately injure someone? He's pointing out that certain tackling techniques, not just the cannonball, need looking at by the rfl and he's right. Deliberate or not, in an effort to slow the ptb down by all teams some tackling methods are leading to unnecessary injuries.

Yes i agree with Cunningham it's sour grapes from TS trying to protect players from lenghy injuries , what a whopper

"None of my players intentionally go out to do anything to anybody. That just isn't how I am as a coach. If a player did that, then he wouldn't be playing the week after.





And yet masoe keeps hitting halfbaxks and players in the back again and again after the ball has gone.

There were 3 players in that tackle, so I assume Warrington are accusing all 3 players in those 2-3 seconds of co-ordinating the tackle to put him into that position.



This is part of the Wrestling technique that has come into the game, the player with the ball resists going down, the players pull and tug the play to pull them to ground. No one is coordinating the player into this position, it was just the result of all those players in the tackle doing their best to both effect and resist the tackle.



If there was something in it the RFL would have no issue in bringing Saints before the beak. Amor got pinged for a crusher tackle and did we moan about it? No Saints fans generally said it was clumsy but he deserved the 2 matches.



So at which training session did those 3 players decided to get together to coordinate this intricate tackle? And Why did they pick Evans as opposed to Hill to take out of the game?

Are you an idiot, or just pretending to be one!

If you read Smiths comments not once does he say it's deliberate, and I agree with his comments, it could have been any player on the pitch including any saints player, player welfare is of paramount importance so any technique that potentially could injure needs to be looked at. Take your red and white tinted glasses of fool!

No saints fan or coach seem capable of reading smith's quote correctly. It's a little embarrassing to be honest.

Oh c'mon. You must know your coach better than that by now. Smith is never direct in any of his criticisms. He is like McDermott of Leeds for that. Smith will slip in a dig rather than take the blunt approach. It was quite clear to anyone listening that Smith was criticising that particular tackle otherwise why on earth should he refer to it specifically?



For what it's worth I think Cunningham was too blunt in his response and he comes across as a tad arrogant at present, which is unfortunate. I would imagine a season in charge will change that. But I do agree that it was a little unprofessional of Smith to highlight a specific tackle and insinuate that there was something particular about that tackle. If he wants to raise a disciplinary matter then he does so with the RFL; not in the media.

He wasn't, he was ranting about that one incident in particular. If he thinks there was any intent to cause injury he's way off the mark. It was unusual for Smith, he's not usually like that. There is a huge difference between what Saints did to Evans and things like cannonball tackles or chicken wings. I've watched the game for 30 years now and have never seen an injury like Evans's. It was a freak outcome to what isn't generally a dangerous technique. Everyone team does it in modern rugby league, you lift the leg to turn the player to face him away from your own line with the intention of slowing the play the ball down. It happens when the ball carrier has lost momentum and is stopped or stopping.



Smith is just wrong on this one. He himself had his own angelic troops doing wrestling training on Sky Sports News before the start of this season.

Like talking to a brickwall.



Smith doesn't moan about the particular tackle during the game but the tackle technique in general. Read his quote numbnuts.



Also, the style we practiced in preseason was getting off the floor quicker, watch the video.