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Find your Sport Nation frequencyWhy Hudson Young is still confused over NRL's high tackle crackdown
Charles Goodsir • April 8th, 2025 1:33 pm
Canberra Raiders second-rower Hudson Young has weighed in on the NRL’s strong stance against high tackles following a dramatic weekend in which seven players were sent to the sin-bin over high shots.
Young was the first victim of the NRL’s crackdown across Round 5 and the Australian and NSW representative said he remains confused on how to avoid contact to the head in fast paced tackling situations.
“Most of the concussions in rugby league don’t actually come from the ball carrier,” Young said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“It’s the person tackling who gets their head in the wrong position. That’s where most concussions come from.
“The high tackle has been around for 100 years so I guess we just need to get better at lowering our contact zone.
“We’ve got to try and get better there but I don’t think the sin-bin is the answer.
“That’s hard to do (and) we get taught to tackle higher. There is no benefit of tackling around the legs because you risk a six-again call or a hip drop tackle.
“When you tackle up top, it’s too slow and it’s another six-again call so there’s a fine line at the moment.”
The Raiders pulled off a dramatic last-minute victory against the Cronulla Sharks to open Round 5 and Sebastian Kris’ winning try was started through Young’s run down the blind side.
“I saw Addin Fonua-Blake the play before on the wing so I was screaming at (Raiders halfback) Jamal Fogarty to give me the ball the play before,” Young continued.
“I just threw a dummy and I was lucky enough to just go straight through.
“I think everyone in the team got a touch of the footy and it was one of the best tries I have ever seen.
“For Seb Kris to pop up on the other side just typifies what we are trying to build as a club and what we expect our players to do.
“I was so happy for him that it all paid off.”
The Raiders travel to TIO Stadium in Darwin in Round 6 to take on the Parramatta Eels on Saturday night.
