DRAGONS BLOG: Divers don’t belong in league

Two weekends ago, Raiders coach David Furner accused Cowboys’ Matt Bowen of a dive that saw Adam Mogg on report for a high tackle.Interestingly, just a few days earlier Cowboys coach Neil Henry explained a tactic he tries to get star Jonathan Thurston to employ if he gets hit hard in a tackle.‘‘I try and tell him (Thurston) to stay down until it goes upstairs, but he gets back up and gets on with the game, that’s because he’s a competitor.’’It’s interesting because it’s the first time I know of when a coach has openly admitted encouraging his players to, if not exactly dive, at least pretend to be hurt while on the field.That’s the sort of behaviour we see on the soccer field all the time - including at the World Cup. It’s a blight on the game and also something that comes to define soccer for so many people. ‘‘Soccer players are a bunch of sooks and cheats who fall over at a moment’s notice’’.Here’s a sample of their work.I think we can agree we don’t need this sort of stuff in rugby league. We can probably also agree we don’t need it in soccer either.But onto the footy. We’re up against the Wests Tigers this Friday, so here’s a few choice moments from the past.First up is Nathan Blacklock’s amazing chip and chase to snatch a last-gasp win - and a hat-trick - back in 2001.Then we’ll go back a year to 2000 to see Terry Lamey and John Hopoate punch on. We love a bit of biff here at Try Hard - and so do the kids in this video when the fight ends up on the fence. Just check out the smiles on their faces.