Trent Robinson calls for harsher penalties as NRL kick-off rules come under the spotlight

Trent Robinson has called for the NRL to go harder on players who commit high tackles from kick-offs, saying send-offs are the first step towards better player safety.

The NRL has all but ruled out any significant changes to kick-offs for 2025 after the issue was placed back on the agenda following several opening-tackle concussions last season.

The matter remains a complex one for the sport, given the importance of the high-impact collision as both a gladiatorial spectacle and an important territory aspect of the game.

For defenders, the biggest problem has largely been one of technique, with outside backs often getting their heads in the wrong spot trying to tackle hard-running bigger forwards on kick-off returns.

For ball-carriers, the risk often revolves around falling victim to high tackles, with Sydney Roosters’ Lindsay Collins’ concussion in the preliminary final an obvious example.

Melbourne prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona was sin-binned for the tackle and suspended from the grand final, but Roosters coach Robinson said sending off players for such incidents from kick-offs would help deter similar tackles.

“That could have been the first step to creating change,” Robinson said at the Roosters’ BYD sponsorship announcement on Tuesday.

“If that was a send-off then anybody running down (from a kick-off) would have got 40 metres to change their technique.

“Because they could affect their team quite significantly (if sent off).”

Trent Robinson with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Robinson is opposed to long-term changes to kick-off rules, fearing any significant alterations could eradicate front-rowers and change the fabric of the game.

“The six-again rule has been really, really good for us, but it’s also cost front-rowers. Front-rowers are worth a lot, but bench front-rowers are obsolete,” he said.

“We’re all playing with locks and we’re all playing with guys that are going to run a long distance.

“We want front-rowers in our game. We want kick-offs (for them) to stamp that authority on the game.

“We don’t want a team of back-rowers and locks, so we’ve got to think about our rule changes and the positions that we have and love in the game.”

Collins was also adamant on Tuesday that changes did not need to be made, with the kick-off important for both attacking and defensive teams.

“That’s what I get paid to do, that’s my job, and I am going to do it regardless,” Collins said.

Kalyn Ponga kicks off for the Newcastle Knights. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

“There were comments there that I ran too hard (against Melbourne). It’s a kick-off carry in semi-final football. What do you want me to do? Dawdle into the line?

“As a front-rower, I want to try and get past that 10-metre line. And when I am defending, I want to get them in the 10-metre line.

“That’s the tone I like to set for myself and the team, and then send a message as well that we’re here.

“They are pretty big messages and a pretty big part of our game.”

The NRL is yet to finalise rule changes for next season, but AAP has been told it is also unlikely that modifications will be made to the activation of the concussion substitute.

© AAP