See the career-ending hit that should’ve made the NRL crack down on hip drop tackles 14 years ago
Watch the horror tackle the NRL should have had against the hip drop 14 YEARS ago, when it ended the career of one of the game’s best players at just 26 years old
- The NRL wants to ban hip-drop tackles
- Taniela Tuiaki’s career was ended in 2009 by a tackle
- Star needed three surgeries and still couldn’t play
The controversial hip-drop tackle has become one of the hottest topics of conversation in the NRL, but the dangerous act should have been cracked down 14 years ago when it ended Taniela Tuiaki’s career.
The Wests Tigers winger was at the peak of his abilities in 2009 when he suffered a devastating injury from a hip drop while playing Paramatta in round 24.
At the time, Tuiaki had been named the hardest man to tackle in the entire NRL and had scored 21 tries in 22 matches, earning him the Dally M Winger of the Year award that season.
He underwent three surgeries in an attempt to return to footy, but the fractures to his tibia, fibula, and additional ligament damage proved career-ending.
βI was scoring tries every week and was all about being the leading try-scorer. I just missed because of my injury,” he revealed in 2011.
The controversial hip-drop tackle has become one of the hottest topics of conversation in the NRL, but the dangerous act should have been cracked down 14 years ago when it ended Taniela Tuiaki’s career
At the time, Tuiaki had been named the hardest man to tackle in the entire NRL and had scored 21 tries in 22 matches, earning him the Dally M Winger of the Year award that season.
βI was Dally M winger of the year. I missed the Kiwi Four Nations in 2008 because of an injury.
βIt was probably my best season to finish my career.
“Now I have to think about what I’m going to do without footy.”
Tackles such as the one that ruined Tuiaki’s leg were first addressed by the NRL in July 2020 when the governing body sent a memo to clubs over concerns about dangerous tackles creeping into play.
That hasn’t stopped players from being sued in several high-profile cases this season, with several players having fallen into sin and been suspended.
Footy legend Matthew Johns says the NRL is right to crack down on the dangerous tackles.
‘I do believe in certain situations, as we saw with young people [Bulldogs star] Jacob Preston, that it was incidental, but he was sent to the sin bin, he was put on the bin and he wasn’t suspended,” Johns told SEN 1170 The Round Up on Monday.
“For me, that’s a small price to pay to get rid of these career-threatening injuries.”
Hip drops first appeared on the radar in July 2020 when the NRL sent out a memo to clubs about dangerous tackles creeping into the game (Jackson Hastings is pictured with his leg broken in a hip drop tackle in 2022)
Footy legend Matthew Johns says the NRL is right to crack down on the dangerous act
Johns hopes players can trust the Rugby League Players Association to help remove the act from the sport.
“When I’m in the RLPA, I drive past all the clubs and tell them, ‘If someone is found guilty of a hip-drop and suspended, you’re out of the players’ association.’
‘Because the players’ association is all about the well-being of players.’
In 2015, Tuiaki revealed that the injury remained so painful that on some days he struggled to walk while batting the NRL because he did not support him as he exited the game.
In 2015, Tuiaki revealed that the injury remained so painful that on some days he struggled to walk while batting the NRL because he did not support him as he exited the game.
“Players like me, nobody cares,” he told the Daily telegram.
βWe can’t get anyone through the turnstiles anymore. Cannot earn money for the game.
‘So what do I matter? I’m just a broken black boy from New Zealand.β