Why don’t ruckman wear knee pads like NBA players do.

1 hour ago, fredblackham said:

Why don’t ruckman wear knee pads like NBA players do.

Shortest OP ever?

(What prompted the question, Fred?)

If I recall correctly, knee and shin protectors went through a peak during the jumping ruck phase before the anti Jeff White rule shifted ruck to more wrestling.

We might see them more now that the anti Max Gawn rules have been introduced to encourage more Jeff White style rucks.

I do also have vague recollections that for shin and knee protection to be strong enough to protect the wearer they had to be so hard they became a danger to opponents.

Everyone is talking about the potential for PCL's like they've removed the centre circle rule that came in in the 2000's.

That's not the case. They've simply banned crossing the line to block an opponents jump which started with Grundy v Gawn in Opening round of 2024.

The rucks don't have to jump directly in to each other. They can still choose to go body on body or come in from the side.

I think most of them will effectively form a truce and cut down the amount of jumping to protect each other, possibly until big moments in games or finals.

I was at the game tonight and was knee on knee or knee into opponent at almost every centre ball up.

1 hour ago, fredblackham said:

Why don’t ruckman wear knee pads like NBA players do.