Australia forward Sam Thaiday believes the growing issue of the "cannonball" tackle has to be "addressed now".
Brisbane Bronco hoping to build on opening win in Four Nations
Australia forward Sam Thaiday insists that the "cannonball" tackle has to be "addressed now" to avoid players suffering serious injury.
The Kangaroos may have lost David Shillington for the rest of the Four Nations after he was hit by Isaac Luke, the New Zealander diving in from behind while the Canberra prop was held by two other defenders.
Thaiday knows all about the dangers of taking out a defenceless player down low, having been on the wrong end of a similar hit himself.
The Brisbane Bronco was caught by the same player during Australia's 42-6 win over the Kiwis in Newcastle a fortnight ago, though Luke escaped punishment on that occasion.
However, the hooker's tackle on Shillington will be scrutinised by a match-review panel on Monday and, if there is a case to answer, the South Sydney player will appear before a disciplinary hearing a day later.
Very dangerous
"It is a very dangerous tackle," said Thaiday. "You can put blokes out doing that type of thing. We don't want it in the game.
"It happened to me in Newcastle. You just don't know what's going to happen. Your feet are planted on the ground, you are hit the wrong way and your knees are gone.
"They need to rub them out for a match and players won't do it. If they keep brushing it aside, it's not going to stop it. It needs to be addressed now."
Shillington will have a scan on his injured knee to find out the full extent of the damage.
He is not the only injury issue for the Kangaroos; centre Willie Tonga suffered suspected broken ribs and Cooper Cronk broke his nose during the 26-12 victory over their trans-Tasman rivals in Warrington.
They had led 16-0 at half time before being forced to hold off a comeback from New Zealand, who at one stage closed the gap down to four points.
However tries from wingers Darius Boyd and Akuile Uate in the final quarter sealed the win for Australia, who next play against England at Wembley.
Man of the match Thaiday said: "I'm not a big fan of this cold air but it was a good first hit-out.
"We're happy with the first half but the second half was a bit ordinary for us.
"We dropped a lot of ball and let them score a few tries. We should have kept the foot on the accelerator.
"It's a long trip over here for us and it's always good to get that first game out of the way and the first win.
"Hopefully we can build now. It's only a short competition and we need to be playing out best footie in three weeks when the final comes around."
