ARLC Chairman Peter V’Landys has admitted he could have “done things better” when introducing the NRL’s high-shot crackdown.
The crackdown on head high hits has fundamentally changed the way the game is played, with more send offs, sin-bins and penalties for contact above the neck.
While it’s always been a rule to protect the head, players were reportedly disillusioned with the Chairman for not consulting them before the new interpretation was introduced before Magic Round.
V’Landys told SEN host Andrew Voss that looking back, it was a “mistake” to not consult the players before this year’s Magic Round when the crackdown was introduced.
“Hindsight’s a great tool, you can do everything in your life better,” V’Landys said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“I make mistakes every day and I’d love to get my chance again to reverse them.
“In this instance, yes, we could have done things better.
“We should’ve probably consulted the players more rightly.”
While V’Landys admitted players should have been consulted, he says the Commission never intended to come across as disrespectful towards player views or feelings.
“The irony of the situation is, we respect the players so much that we took the hard call to protect them,” V’Landys added.
“It was never anything to do with disrespect, or to not consider their feelings or their views.
“It was purely we wanted to protect their safety, we had to make a hard call, and sometimes you need to make these calls at hard times.
“That’s what we did, but yes, we could have done things better, and yes, we could have probably sat down with players and let them know of the crackdown.
“But in life you learn all the time, every day I learn something new, and I’ve definitely learned from this,”