Shoulder charge not returning, says ARLC
ARL Commission chairman Peter Beattie has emphatically declared the shoulder charge will not make a return, despite Billy Slater being cleared to play in Sunday’s grand final.
The decision to find Slater not guilty at the judiciary on Tuesday night has now set a precedent for the way some shoulder charges are sanctioned. But Beattie is adamant the shoulder charge remains banned and will not creep back into the game after it was outlawed in 2015.
“No-one is watering down the shoulder charge,” Beattie said. “It is dangerous for the game. We have rules against it.
“That rule is not negotiable because that is all about player safety.”
Beattie said the rule would be reviewed at the end of the season. “We look at everything, including our naval,” Beattie said. “We will look at this too. It is 200 points, you go out for a game.
“We have to protect player safety. At the end of each season, of course we look at everything. But if anyone thinks we’re not going to enforce the rule on shoulders, they are absolutely wrong.
“No one should think this was a slackening of the rule. This was an interpretation of the facts.”
The interpretation Beattie refers to comes back to the decision made by judiciary panel members Sean Garlick, Bob Lindner and Mal Cochrane.
“The NRL can’t win on these things,” Beattie said. “I just want to make the point that ... this is an independent process. The decision is not made by Todd Greenberg or the ARL Commission.”