Dec 15th, 2018

Dec 15th, 2018

Children playing rugby league in Queensland under the age of six will no longer be allowed to tackle in a trial to expand the game by the National Rugby League.



The changes come off the back of startling 2017 figures that showed of the 140,000 nationally registered players 40,000 left the sport due to negative experiences.



The decision to implement tagging over tackling in the under-six’s age group is intended to allow time to teach young payers how to tackle correctly in an effort to curtail dangerous collisions.

The decision to ban tackling in the trial has been controversial to say the least with Gold Coast Titans hooker Nathan Peats taking to his Twitter account to vent his frustrations.

Peats suggested rugby league will be in danger if rules such as the tackling ban at the junior level are implemented (AAP)

"What a joke," Peats tweeted.

"Rugby League will be a dying sport if this is how it's going to be in the future."

In addition to the tackling ban, players between the ages of six to 12 will play with no scores and no grand finals.

The decision comes after a similar set of rules were trialled in New Zealand. The trial will take place for 12 months in Queensland, with the expectation for the rule change to be rolled out nationwide in 2020 if successful.