Fears over the rise of the hip-drop tackle in contact sports have surfaced in the US, with the NFL reaching out to NRL officials in an attempt to rid its game of the dangerous technique.

Graham Annesley, the NRL’s head of elite football, said the NFL and various US media outlets had contacted the NRL to better understand and manage hip-drop tackles in their game after Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard fractured his fibula following a tackle by the San Francisco 49ers’ Jimmie Ward.

“It’s not just a problem in our game – a game that’s quite similar to ours in many ways, the NFL, is dealing with exactly the same problem, more recently than us,” Annesley said.

“We have been dealing with it for the last three years or so. It’s a current issue in the NFL right now, they’re in their off-season, so they haven’t made any final decisions yet, but they’ve been in contact with us.

“We have also had contact from the media in the United States about how we have been dealing with it here. We have provided as much information as we can to them, and we’re not constantly in contact with them but they have reached out, and we have responded.”

A hip-drop tackle is characterised by a defender taking hold of an attacking player, twisting their body and dropping their body weight on the lower legs of the opposing player, trapping their lower limbs in a dangerous position.

The NRL sent a memo to clubs during the 2020 season, when the tackle started to creep into the game, to warn of the dangers of hip-drops. It cautioned players against using them.

“This action traps, twists, and contorts muscles, tendons and joints in an unnatural way, exposing the ball-carrier to an elevated risk of injury,” the memo from Annesley read.