Storm's Welch calls for common sense on leg collisions

By: Melissa Woods Time published 2024-05-13 at 09:24 PM (GMT +10:00)

Melbourne Storm prop Christian Welch says there should be more focus on head-high tackles than a sin-bin for making light contact with a rival player's leg.

CHRISTIAN WELCH.
CHRISTIAN WELCH. Picture: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images

While his captain Harry Grant fronts the NRL judiciary, Melbourne prop Christian Welch has called for common sense around sin-bins for contact made with a player's leg.

The Storm will fight Grant's grade-one dangerous contact charge on Tuesday night, with the hooker appearing via video link.

Grant was sin-binned just before halftime in Saturday's match for making seemingly innocuous contact with Cronulla kicker Dan Atkinson during his follow-through.

The 26-year-old was offered a $1000 fine for an early guilty plea but the club decided to challenge the charge.

Often given the Storm job of pressuring rival kickers, Welch questioned how making contact with a leg could be deemed worse than a collision with a player's head.

"I understand the logic of protecting those players but maybe a little bit of common sense," the representative prop said.

"It's an interesting one when you consider any contact with the kicker is a penalty. But we're worried about a kicker's leg.

"Any contact with the head there seems to be a bit of, 'That's not a penalty', or 'That's not 10 in the bin'.

"What's more important to a person, their brain or a foot?

"I think it's interesting that we don't have such a focus on head-highs and concussions at a time when we probably should."

While Welch, a former player-director of the NRL Players' Union, wanted the head to be sacrosanct, he didn't want to see rugby league follow rugby union by lowering the tackle height.

"I don't think so. You look at a lot of concussions these days and it's players going low and getting a knee to the head or hitting hips," Welch said.

"It's probably the safer tackle."

Welch was also asked about a proposed ban on kick-offs or long restarts, which involve players taking the ball into a collision at speed, to also limit head knocks.

"You don't mind taking the kick-off carry - it's a tough one because you know you're generally getting flogged," Welch said.

"It's just part of the game and I wouldn't get rid of it.

"It's an exciting way to start the game and it brings fans into it."