Highlighting difficulties in making punishment fit the crime

Unfortunately, when it comes to what punishment fits the crime, there never has been and never will be a clear consensus of opinion.

At first glance, you would agree with Brian McDermott this week when he attacked the leniency of a two-match ban handed to Bradford's Paul Sykes following a "spear" tackle on Harlequins' Oliver Wilkes.

It is an ugly and dangerous act which should, in theory, warrant a far heftier penalty.

Watching it evolve from the sidelines is bad enough and supporters inevitably wince when they see the action unfold, fearing the worst. But, writing as a former player, I know the sense of dread you actually feel when picked up and are aimed head first back into the ground. Prone and helpless, you await the impact on your neck and hope for the best.

McDermott has criticised the disciplinary panel for being too soft saying "do we really have to wait until someone is put in a wheelchair before we stop classifying spear tackles as on a par with a mis-timed head-high challenge or two men letting their emotions spill over into a punch-up?

"Two of these offences will bust your lip or break a nose at worst. One will break your spine and ruin your life. However, judging by the punishment handed out, no one would know the difference."

Although the Harlequins coach is rightfully trying to highlight the severe damage a spear tackle can create, Sykes, who used to play for the gruff Yorkshireman in London, would justifiably take umbrage with any inference he purposely set out to injure his opponent.

But it is McDermott's last comment which shows the difficulties in dealing with such disciplinary issues, sifting through the various fouls and deciding which is worse than the next.

According to McDermott's theory, Upton ARLFC's Steven Froggett should have got a two-game ban when he punched an opponent during a game against Bradford side Victoria Rangers in June last year.

Instead, however, a jury at Bradford Crown Court earlier this week convicted him of inflicting grievous bodily harm and the 29-year-old from Pontefract is facing a lengthy custodial sentence, having broken James Barraclough's jaw during a melee in the match. Who is right?

While McDermott is correct in saying a spear tackle can potentially paralyse someone, he is forgetting that a punch to the head can more often do a lot more damage than busting a lip or breaking a nose, as he suggests.

There are plenty of media stories about "luckless" people imprisoned on manslaughter charges following the death of someone struck by a single blow after a drunken night out.

Thankfully, that has not happened on a rugby pitch and, neither am I saying on-field violence needs to be addressed in any Draconian manner. Indeed, like many, I am a firm believer that "a bit of biff" as they say in Australia is all part of the game and there will always be "emotions spilling over," as McDermott, a former Royal Marine boxer who knew how to handle himself as a hardened prop with Bradford, points out.

But it all becomes so grey.

McDermott is right in highlighting the discrepancies in the disciplinary process – maybe the RFL have to take a look at the more rigid and steadfast systems in place in the NRL – but he has possibly chosen the wrong example to illustrate it.

However, almost 150 years after Dostoevsky wrote his classic novel, getting the answer right remains as complex as ever.