Slater's desperate plea in wake of brutal round

Legendary fullback Billy Slater has called on players to get serious about their duty of care for the opposition in the wake of an NRL round that produced a long list of casualties in ugly incidents.

Felise Kaufusi (dangerous contact), Christian Welch (dangerous contact), Phoenix Crossland (crusher tackle), Jamayne Taunoa-Brown (crusher tackle), Tyson Frizell (dangerous contact), Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (high tackle) and Kyle Feldt (dangerous throw) were all charged during a brutal round of footy.

Slater hit out on Wide World of Sports radio.

"We can talk about the inconsistency or we can talk about the duty of care that players have to have for their opposition," Slater said.

"That's what it comes down to. When you take the field you've got a duty of care to not hit anyone in the head or potentially knock anyone out.

"All those incidents – the Felise Kaufusi one, the Dallin Watene-Zelezniak one – two weeks (is) fair enough. You can't do that. You've got a duty of care to keep the opposition safe. Yes, it's a tough sport and you play hard, but you can't go around hitting people in the head and knocking them out."

Slater said the NRL had weakened in their policing of tackles on kickers.

"I think the attention on our kickers has been overlooked," Slater said.

"Pretty much every kicker gets tackled, whether they kick it five metres before the defender gets to them or not. Defending players can pull out. We've seen that when they pass the football. A defending player will pull out if he can, but defenders – we've seem to let them go.

"Ricky Stuart has been pretty vocal about Jack Wighton and him getting tackled after he kicks the football. He's the best kicker and chaser in the game. So I think this has been overlooked. (Sean) Kepi got it wrong, but I think we can start policing it better."

Slater said a solution was already in place for ironing out late tackles on kickers.

"If the referee deems the defending player could have pulled out of the contact before he's kicked the ball, it's a penalty down field where the ball lands," Slater said.

"They'll soon learn. We all put this perception on rugby league players that they're not very smart. I tell you what: they'll soon learn. They're smart and they'll take advantage of every little thing you give them and they'll learn pretty quick when their coach comes down on them."

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