WAYNE BENNETT has broken his silence to denounce the tackle that sidelined Craig Wing as against the spirit of rugby league, and demand it be rubbed out of the game.
Rabbitohs recruit Wing is likely to be in the casualty ward for three months after being crunched in a Riley Brown tackle dubbed "the prowler" in Friday night's spiteful encounter against the Roosters.
Bennett unsuccessfully lobbied for the act to be eradicated at a recent coaches' meeting, claiming it left the victim "defenceless".
Speaking exclusively to The Sun-Herald, Bennett explained why it was dangerous and a natural progression from the outlawed grapple tackle.
"Two guys hold you up, they don't really try to tackle you and because the referee hasn't called held, a third guy prowling around comes in to finish you off," Bennett said. "You have to understand there are times you can still have three guys in a tackle.
"When a player is deliberately held up - with Craig Wing - they call it dancing with the player. They hold him up deliberately to get the third guy in there - the reason for that is to slow the play up even more.
"They're totally defenceless, that's part of the issue, there is no defence. He got targeted but it wasn't illegal under the rules of the game.
"The other thing I feel strongly about is the spirit in which the game is played. You've got no protection, you are tackled or in the process of being tackled and then another guy buys into it - and you see the outcome.
"The game doesn't need Craig Wing to be out with an injury that could have been prevented.
"If you're strong enough physically and have the balance and footwork to stand in the tackle - and they don't want to put you on the ground - then you should be rewarded with a quick play-the-ball without having a third guy come in to smash you up."
Bennett said the way to eradicate the prowler was to educate referees to call held as soon as the ball carrier's momentum was stopped - or if they sensed the attacking player was in a vulnerable position.
"The rules are already there," he said. "The rules state that when a player's momentum is stopped, the referee shall call held. His momentum was stopped there [Friday]. They have to complete the tackle but the fact is a third guy came in and bought into it. The refs will need to anticipate when he believes a third guy will become involved in that thing.
"There's nothing wrong with three guys being in a tackle sometimes; I'm not advocating [eliminating] that.
"You saw the Mark Gasnier one last year, the Luke O'Donnell one, there was this one last night … Mark Gasnier was really hurt and stung by what happened to him last year, Luke O'Donnell was out for the season and now we've lost Craig Wing.
"I argued this at the coaches's conference and I couldn't get everyone across the line - when I saw it last night I thought, 'Oh my God'. We spend half our life working out ways to slow the ball up - the grapple was a part of that, three in the tackle was a part of that, and this is the new trend now."
