Maroons great Darren Locker has called for a five-minute sin bin to be introduced for "accidental" high tackles following the NRL's crackdown against high shots during the recent Magic Round.
"I think the really bad ones send off and the reckless ones I think are 10 minutes," Lockyer told Wide World of Sports' QLDER. "The borderline accidental ones where players couldn't do much to change the outcome of the tackle I think we can solve that with a five-minute bin."
NRL match officials copped some heat for their officiating during last weekend's matches, after the game's powerbrokers sent out an edict demanding referees send a stronger message to players who come in contact with the head during tackles. The directive resulted in 14 players being sin-binned and two sent off.
That number equalled the record of 14 players that were sin-binned in Round 11 in 2018 as the all-time high in the NRL-era. The last time before that to see sin bin carnage at a similar level was back in Round 15, 1995.
Sin-binning players was a major part of officiating in the 1990s before the game reverted to dealing with serious offences via the match review committee post-match following the Super League era.
Yet much of the criticism has been about the timing of the crackdown and how much notice clubs got. Lockyer believes the game needs to have more clarity over what constitutes a sin-bin offence and how officials should deal with accidental clashes above the neck.
Cowboys forward Lachlan Burr was sin-binned for an accidental shot on Roosters fullback James Tedesco on Saturday but was fined for a grade one careless high tackle. The Brisbane legend said there's no doubt officials need to make the game safer but said there needs to be more guidelines around their decisions.
"People aren't privy to the data and information that they get," he said. "We form an opinion based on what we see.
"I know for a fact that they look at the data around the participation of our game and they need to react to that. Maybe the weekend just gone wasn't the time to do it but they've gone hard and it's all we've talked about all weekend.
"It will change players behaviours; at the same time there needs to be a tweak so in four weeks time we're still not talking about the same stuff."
Historically, players have been encouraged to tackle around the legs, although in recent years coaches have made the target areas for defenders higher on the body to wrap the ball up and prevent quick play the balls. Since wrestling has become a key component in the NRL, tackling around the legs has dropped off.
When a defender tackles a player around the legs he must release almost immediately or inevitably prompt a tackle count restart. The defender also risks being left on the ground for the next play after a legs tackle, leaving his team short in the defensive line.
Lockyer said until the league incentivises players to make low tackles, the headlines surrounding officiating will continue.
"Back in the day you were taught to bend your back and get your shoulder in below the ball," he said.
"These days one-on-one tackles are not valued at all. There's no incentive. It's more let's catch him, dance with him and then get him to ground.
"Players are coached to tackle around the football and that's always going to be a danger to the head."
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from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/nrl-news-darren-lockyer-five-minute-sin-bin/82f87f76-3bb0-4df3-b13c-c8b272fdc3df
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