Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou has been left fuming after a series of hip drop tackles from the Bulldogs left two of his players nursing injuries.
Despite his side’s 50-16 win over the Bulldogs, Demetriou was left with a sour taste in his mouth after losing Junior Tatola and Izack Thompson in the process.
Tatola came up limping and grabbing his knee in the opening minutes of the match after an early tackle Demetriou classed as a hip drop, before Thompson was forced off in the 62nd minute after a similar incident.
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Bulldogs second-rower Jacob Preston was placed on report for a hip drop tackle on Thompson by referee Gerard Sutton and was sent to the sin bin.
The Rabbitohs coach claimed “there was at least four” hip drop tackles made by Bulldogs players during the match.
“We keep saying that it is not a problem in the game, but Izack Thompson, Junior Tatola today,” he said after the match.
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“If that tackle happens on the training field, I can guarantee you your teammates aren’t happy about it.
“Your own teammates are filthy if you do that to your fellow teammates. I don’t know why if we are not doing it at training, why are we bringing it on the field?”
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Demetriou called the tackle “lazy” and put the onus on teams to stamp it out of the game.
”I think the game is doing a great job trying to do what they can. It is up to the clubs to show some onus on it because it is going to affect your team somewhere,” he said.
“You are going to lose a high quality player to a hip drop, which is a tackle that can be avoided in my opinion.
“We don’t practice it. There is no way that would happen at training. I can’t stress that point enough. It does not happen at training.
“Coaches and teammates would not let that happen, so I don’t know why that we are accepting that is OK on the field.
“Look, I don’t think any player is going out there to do it intentionally. This is not me having a crack at anybody in particular or Canterbury.
“It is just as a game I think we can do a bit more to avoid it.”
Thompson injured his ankle during the match as a result of Preston’s tackle, and Demetriou said the Rabbitohs would send the 26-year-old for scans, adding that “he is hobbling a bit”.
The Rabbitohs face a short turnaround in round seven when they travel to Brisbane to take on the Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
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