Stephen Kearney has put his faith in the NRL to address the safety of kickers after two ugly incidents in as many games to kick off round four.
Warriors halfback Blake Green was collected late and in midair by Titans forward Moeaki Fotuaika 33 minutes into the Warriors'26-10 win on Friday night. He got up hobbling but was able to play on before leaving the pitch in the final minutes of the game.
The challenge came a night after Sydney Roosters half Cooper Cronk was hit late by Brisbane Broncos enforcer Tevita Pangai Jr., who now faces at least two weeks on the sidelines.
"We've got to look after those players … I'm sure the NRL will look after it," Kearney said after the game.
Green has been the Warriors go-to option on the last play of their sets through their opening four rounds. While Adam Keighran had done a bit of the kicking, with Chanel Harris-Tavita replacing him in the halves for the Titans clash in his NRL debut, Green took on even more of the last play responsibility.
He led a vastly improved performance from the Warriors after two dismal weeks of football. The side took a simple approach to the game in which they didn't try anything too flashy, completed their sets and took the opportunities as they presented themselves.
Blake Green is tackled in midair by Moeaki Fotuaika. Photo / Photosport
As a result, they picked up an important win before heading out on the road to take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
"After the last couple of weeks that we've had, it's pleasing for the football club that the boys responded like that," Kearney said. "In fairness, we dug ourselves into our own hole to get out of with our last couple of performances, but I thought they responded pretty well."
However, Green's high usage was something Kearney was hoping to address in the coming week in the hopes of minimising the risk of him being collected in a dangerous position again.
"With Greeny, I think a lot of the teams are going after him because he's our main kicker. We'll make a couple of adjustments to it … the problem is he doesn't want to pass up the responsibility, so we might just have to make the other kicker kick."
Kearney's words followed those of Roosters captain Boyd Cordner, who on Thursday night told NRL.com the safety of the players was paramount.
"It probably wasn't intentional but at the same time we need to look after player welfare and think they got the call right at the end of the day," he said.
"It is hard because as players we get told to put pressure on and when you have their key playmakers standing in front of you, you want to take away as much time as possible.
"But at the same time there has to be a duty of care and I think the game is trending in that direction where the player welfare is first and foremost and that showed in the decision of Tevita getting two or three weeks."
