The NRL is offering advice to the NFL in a bid to stamp out hip-drop tackles as head of football Graham Annesley backed the game's overly cautious approach.
Hip-drop tackles have dominated the opening six rounds of the 2023 season with criticism centred on the NRL's seemingly inconsistent approach to the tackle.
The hip-drop tackle is defined by a defending player swinging his weight onto the back of the legs of an attacking player to bring them to ground.
Over round six, Canterbury back-rower Jacob Preston was sinbinned for a supposed hip-drop against South Sydney and then wasn't charged by the match review committee.
By contrast, St George Illawarra forward Jaydn Su'A wasn't sinbinned in his side's loss to the Gold Coast but was handed a fine for his hip-drop tackle on Titans playmaker Tanah Boyd.
The problem has also reared its head in the NFL in the build-up to this year's play-offs, with Annesley offering advice to officials in the US on how to combat the tackle.
"A game that's quite similar to ours in many ways is dealing with exactly the same problem as us," Annesley said.
"We've been dealing with them for the past three years or so.
"They've been in contact with us about how we've been dealing with it here (and) we've provided as much information as we can to them."
Already this season Cronulla lock Dale Finucane and Warriors back-rower Marata Niukore have been suspended for hip-drop tackles.
The contrast in the on and off-field sanctions has been a talking point, especially following the inconsistency in sanctions handed out to Preston and Su'A.
But Annesley said referees couldn't approach the tackle with a one-size-fits-all approach.
"I would obviously prefer that referees err on the side of caution in the interest of player safety," Annesley said.
"Now that doesn't mean every time there is something that resembles a hip-drop, we are going to see players sent to the sin-bin or be charged by the match review committee.
"Just because a player doesn't get charged doesn't necessarily mean that the referees got it wrong.
"The match officials have to take the action that they believe is appropriate in the circumstances."
