NRL’s tackle crackdown has James Tedesco nervous for “very different” Origin battle

James Tedesco has admitted he’s “nervous” about how the NRL’s current head-high crackdown will affect the State of Origin arena, and tips a “very different game” if it does leak into the game’s biggest rivalry.

The rugby league world has been alight with one thing over the past two weeks: the NRL’s head contact crackdown, and the ‘shock-and-awe’ tactics the game’s governing body is employing to try and “clean up” the league in regards to concussions and long-term head injuries.

Just last weekend, 16 players were sent to the sin bin across eight games — Victor Radley even copped two stints — with a further 29 charges laid at the feet of offending players.

It was a record-high in the NRL era, on both counts, and it has the game’s stars nervous.

The nerves, James Tedesco said on Tuesday morning, aren’t just for the game in general. The nerves, he said, are for a more specific event coming up on the horizon: State of Origin. The blockbuster New South Wales vs Queensland battle is now just two weeks away, and the NRL could be looking at a “very different” glamour game come June 9.

“I think a lot of players are nervous… they don’t want to make any contact,” Tedesco said.

“It’s for the consistency, if they’re doing it in the NRL they’ll do it in Origin. That could be a different game. Momentum could swing very quickly if something like that happens.

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“We’ll just have to see what happens,” he continued. “A lot of the times it’s accidental and there’s no malice in it; you just can’t do it. You can’t make contact with the head because it’s getting punished very severely at the moment. There’s more awareness of being more controlled.

“I don’t think it’s about changing techniques, it’s about being aware.”

“I see the benefits for players. The crackdown is beneficial for player’s safety, I’m just not sure on the punishments and how severe they can be.

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“The sin bins and cracking down on contact with the head, but sin bins every game and then making the game faster and injuries more common, so there’s a fine line there.”

Tedesco has copped three head-high tackles already this season.

James Tedesco himself has been right at the heart of the crackdown’s seemingly fluctuating rules in the past two weeks too. The incumbent Blues fullback has found himself on the receiving end of three high shots across the 2021 season so far, the last of which saw Lachlan Burr face the judiciary for accidental contact.

The problem, many see, is that Tedesco “falls” into tackles.

“I’ve always run like that, I do get myself in awkward positions,” the star hit back.

“It’s more on me. If I get hit in the head then that’s worse for me, so I don’t want to have that. It’s beneficial for me not to get hit like that, it’s more just about keeping my feet in those tackles when they happen.

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“I know fans get frustrated and I get a few sprays. But that’s just how I run. I guess there’s more awareness for me to stay up straight because [if] I run low and I lose my footing.”