Bradford’s Odsal Stadium has had its fair share of significant moments in rugby league history but these days it is hardly the first place you would think of to describe the word groundbreaking. This vast bowl can house 25,000 but in this instance the terraces are scattered with no more than a few dozen people, many of them parents watching their children play in an academy match between Bradford and Leeds on a sun-kissed Thursday evening.
However, they are present for a genuine moment of history. Both rugby codes have disclosed their intent to lower the legal tackle height in the years ahead; some think it is a reactive move to the growing number of players taking legal action against the sport they played, others see it as simply a progressive step to protecting the players better. But whatever the reason, this is league’s first move into a new era of contact sport, with a six-week trial across four rounds of academy fixtures where only tackles below the armpit are legal, lowered from below the shoulder.
