Spear tackle

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A spear tackle is a dangerous tackle in rugby union, rugby league and Australian rules football whereby a player is picked up by a tackler on the opponent's side, and turned so that they are upside down. The tackler then drops or drives the player into the ground often head or neck first. In American Football, a spear tackle (or simply 'spear') generally refers to a defending player initiating contact with another using their head in an attacking manner.

Spear tackles are particularly dangerous and have caused serious injury^[1] including spinal damage, dislocations^[2] and broken bones in the shoulder or neck.

In 2005, former New Zealand international player Jarrod McCracken successfully sued the Melbourne Storm side and players Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai over a tackle that occurred on May 12, 2000 that he claimed ended his career. He was eventually awarded AU$97,000.^[3]^[4]^[5]Spear tackles are outlawed in all forms of the game, guilty players may face tribunals or judiciaries where they are dealt suspensions and possible fines.

Often termed a "dangerous throw", the National Rugby League (NRL) competition in Australia awards a penalty for players being lifted beyond the horizontal. Generally these tackles are also put "on report", meaning that in the coming week the judiciary is forced to review the incident and pursue the matter further if deemed appropriate.

In the Australian Football League (AFL), it is a reportable offence, and players found guilty face the tribunal and possible suspension with at least a two match ban. Despite this, Matthew Whelan has been cleared for spear tackles on several occasions and Mal Michael performed a spear tackle on Mitch Morton in 2007 which was cleared of any wrongdoing by the AFL tribunal and resulted only in a free kick.^[6]