Annesley warns players high contact can't continue or bans will be lengthy

NRL head of football Graham Annesley has issued a message to the entire audience - from players, coaches, fans and the media - to reset their opinions around head and neck contact in the game. 

Annesley spoke at his weekly media briefing for more than an hour on Monday afternoon, defending the latest criticism around the NRL's judiciary system and delivering figures that indicate charges and suspensions for head/neck contact were on the rise.

A further four players were charged by the match review committee over the weekend for careless high tackles, while Sharks forward Siosifa Talakai took the early guilty plea for a shoulder charge and will miss the next four matches.

Annesley's message was simple in his delivery - the numbers were "disturbing" and players can expect to suffer further consequences in the future.

"We've seen a significant rise this season in both charges by the match review committee and the number of weeks with suspension and this is really concerning," Annesley said.

Everyone needs to accept that contact with the head or neck is just no longer acceptable.

Graham Annesley

"Even more disturbingly, there's been a significant increase in charges and players being suspended for contact with the head.

"I think we're at a point now in the game where everyone needs to accept that contact with the head or neck is just no longer acceptable.

"There needs to be a bit of a reset. There needs to be a bit of an expectation reset by players, clubs, by the media and fans generally.

"Players can't be allowed to make contact with the head or neck of other players and expect no consequences. It's just not acceptable in this day and age of the game.

"I know this will horrify people and they'll say the game has gone soft or that they're love taps half the time, or it didn't do any damage.

"But think about how many of our great players have had to retire prematurely because of head-related injuries.

"Not because they've reached the end of their careers but because of contact to their head or neck.

"[So] it can't continue. Despite all the critics, the game is more committed than ever to protect players on the field of play."

Annesley cited figures from the opening seven rounds of the Telstra Premiership which show 57 charges have been laid by the match review committee, resulting in bans across the game totalling 47 weeks, in a trend that is on track to comfortably pass previous seasons.

He also joined NRL CEO Andrew Abdo in heavily defending the game's judiciary process following criticism over the opening seven weeks of the Telstra Premiership.  

Latrell Mitchell's four-match ban after round six heightened the discussion, with some calling for a complete overhaul of the system.

Like Mitchell, Penrith centre Paul Momirovski also failed in a bid to achieve a downgrade last week. Criticism had started prior to their appearances before the panel.

On Monday, Abdo backed the independence of the judiciary panel after it was questioned in the media.

"The judiciary panel operates in a challenging environment and its members are tasked with making difficult decisions, requiring independent thought and unique insight which comes through playing the game at the highest level," Abdo said in a statement.

"There are currently five judiciary panel members who have played almost 1000 premiership games collectively and won grand finals, State of Origin series and Test matches.

"Their knowledge and understanding of rugby league is unquestionable.

"The judiciary panel are independent of the NRL or any club. Our panellists are meticulous in their consideration of evidence and unquestionably independent in the way they deliberate.

"Aside from decorated rugby league careers, our panellists are also successful in their chosen fields.

"There will always be varying public views about every Judiciary decision, just as the facts of every Judiciary matter are unique, but there is no place for anyone to question the independence of the panel."

While not referring to Mitchell's suspension, in particular, Abdo said the system in place was also designed to be harsher on players with prior offences.

"Just as the court system issues harsher penalties to citizens with prior offences, our judiciary system also issues harsher penalties to players with prior offences and carry-over points," Abdo said.

"This acts as a deterrent to foul play which assists in keeping players safe. It also recognises and incentivises those players who maintain an otherwise clean record of play."

Abdo added the NRL's judiciary system will be reviewed during the year, "as is the case with all processes and systems within the game".

"As always, the review will be considered by the Australian Rugby League Commission who will determine what changes may be required taking into account all views," he said.

Annesley went through the current system before profiling each person - from former players who form the match review committee, to NRL judiciary chairman Geoff Bellew.

"They're high-quality people who have given a lot of service to the game over a lot of years that the game should be grateful to still have these people involved," Annesley said.