The Rugby Football League have revealed the success of their 2024 tackle height reduction laws with data supporting the changes made.
Rules surrounding tackle height in Super League, Championship, League One and the Women’s Super League were made in 2024 with the legal tackle height to then drop to the armpit for 2025 – in line with the community game.
Those proposals for 2025 were abandoned following the successful adoption of the 2024 rules that saw stricter punishment for head high tackles, something that has in turn seen the rate of concussion drop at the elite level.
At an RFL meeting, the media were briefed on the data with Professor Ben Jones outlining injury rates per every 1,000 hours, which equates to around 29 games.
The data was taken from both the Men’s and Women’s Super League as well as the Reserves and Academy fixtures, the very elite levels of rugby league.
Concussion rates dropped in all three competitions from 2023 to 2024 with the average in Super League now down to 15 per 1,000 hours. The Women’s Super League showed the biggest decrease.
There was also data for the historical tackle height in Super League relative to the 2024 data which showed a huge difference in the percentage of tackles where contact was first made at the head or neck area.
Historical rates showed 13% of tackles were made at that height but that has dropped to just 4%, something that has helped contribute to the decline in the number of concussions.
It was argued that the very severe sanctions at the beginning of the 2024 Super League season, whereby 15 players were charged in Round One with multiple red cards shown, helped change the player’s behaviour which in turn drove the reduction in tackle height across the season.
Interestingly, the men’s Super League saw a slight increase in the number of injuries every 1,000 hours but the severity, or the average number of days lost, dropped from 20 to 16 meaning that the ‘Injury Burden’ remained flat.
With the focus remaining on ensuring tackle heights stay low in 2025, the rate of concussions and injuries could continue to drop and ensure the safety of rugby league players.
