NEWCASTLE Knights enforcer Ben Cross vowed yesterday to continue his fearless running style and appealed to the NRL for protection after being spear-tackled three times in his past three games.
Cross was picked up and dropped on his back by North Queensland forward Luke O'Donnell last Saturday night the third such incident he has experienced in quick succession.
He was also spear-tackled in Origin III by Queensland forward Nate Myles and on the receiving end of a similar dangerous throw from Canberra's Tom Learoyd-Lahrs in his comeback game two weeks ago.
Myles and Learoyd-Lahrs were suspended for six and seven games respectively, but O'Donnell somehow escaped with nothing more than a penalty and an on-field caution from referee Sean Hampstead.
Cross said yesterday that the onus should not be on him to change his running style, but on defenders to practise their tackling techniques.
"It seems like a standard every week I run out I seem to get one," Cross said.
"I don't know whether it's the way I run or the way guys are tackling.
"But again it was the same thing that happened on the weekend. I bumped off the guy that was trying to tackle me up top, and the guy underneath me was trying to do a legs tackle or whatever and just flipped me up.
"So I don't know. Do I have to stop bumping blokes off and let them tackle me?
"I've got the right to run however I want, and it's up to them to tackle me properly."
Cross has analysed his running game on video and felt confident he had no fundamental flaw carrying the ball.
"I'm not running too upright, where they get under me," Cross said.
"I'm not leaning too far forward, where they flip me on my head . . . I reckon it's just that the players need to get their tackling techniques right, and the NRL need to start doing something about it because it's getting quite ridiculous."
Asked if he was worried about the possibility of suffering spinal damage, Cross replied: "You can't dwell on it, but the reality is that could happen.
"So hopefully the NRL and referees stamp that out."
Cross nonetheless said he was not disappointed that O'Donnell escaped without censure after Saturday's incident.
"I'm not dwelling on that," he said. "That's up to the judiciary."
Cross took exception, however, when Myles suggested in the Sydney Morning Herald last week that the Knights prop was partially to blame for being up-ended so regularly.
"It's no surprise that he was spear-tackled and put into a dangerous position on the weekend [against Canberra]," Myles said.
"It's the way he runs. He runs with a lot of force and straight at people.
"I'm not saying that's a bad running style. But if you watch the tape, I've got hold of both legs, there's no hands between the legs, nothing illegal. It's just the way he ends up."
Cross provided a forthright response to Myles's argument.
"That's a big call coming from someone who I think has been suspended twice for dangerous-throw tackles," he said.
"Maybe he should check his tackling technique."
Meanwhile, Cross said that Melbourne were only human and could be beaten at EnergyAustralia on Saturday night.
Newcastle held the premiers to 18-4 at Olympic Park in round nine and are primed to produce a boilover with their season hanging on the outcome.
"If we can go along those sort of lines, we'll be in there with a chance," Cross said.
"But man to man, we'll have to mark up."
Newcastle forwards Danny Wicks (back), Richard Fa'aoso (concussion) and Cory Paterson (ribs) were not chosen in the 18-man squad named yesterday but could come into calculations if they are able to train later in the week.
[PI9016] Newcastle's National Youth Competition (under-20) team will be involved in a ground-breaking initiative on Saturday night when they play an 11-a-side match against Melbourne.
Knights NYC coach Trent Robinson said he was notified of the experiment yesterday.
Both sides are out of contention for the play-offs. It is understood each team will be allowed 10 interchanges per half, but Robinson had not been informed of any other rule changes.
The Sharks and Cowboys under 20s will play under the same format next weekend.
"It's about giving the NRL a chance to have a look at different things, that's the most important thing," Robinson said yesterday.
"Whether we agree or not is incidental."
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