<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>341655</docID> <postdate>2025-04-02 13:50:15</postdate> <headline>Canberra, Cronulla wary of 11-a-side showdowns</headline> <body><p><img class=" wp-image-341656" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/20240517122092069715-original-1-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="631" height="394" /></p> <caption>Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has warned there could be 11 vs 11 with the new NRL head-high crackdown. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <b>George Clarke</b></span></p> <p><strong>Canberra and Cronulla are bracing for the prospect of becoming crash-test dummies for the latest NRL crackdown as Raiders coach Ricky Stuart warned a zero-tolerance approach to head-high contact could lead to games being reduced to 11-a-side.</strong></p> <p>The Raiders host the Sharks on Thursday in the first game since the NRL sent an edict to clubs, conceding the officiating of head-high shots had slipped with officials now urged to send more players to the sinbin in round five.</p> <p>Historically such crackdowns have led to an overcorrection from officials with the 2021 Magic Round the most notable example.</p> <p>The game's renewed tough stance will be of little solace to Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon after last week's 20-6 loss to Canterbury.</p> <p>The NRL admitted in the aftermath of Cronulla's defeat that Bulldogs hooker Reed Mahoney should have been sinbinned for a high shot on Sharks utility Daniel Atkinson.</p> <p>"It (the Mahoney incident) is almost irrelevant now, you hand it over to the people who make those calls," Fitzgibbon said.</p> <p>"If they make them, they make them.</p> <p>"You don't want to be on the (wrong) end of a soft one either now, so we'll wait and see what happens this round."</p> <p>Those views were echoed by Stuart, who said it was natural for players to make innocent mistakes during the heat of battle.</p> <p>But Canberra coach Stuart has said referees must be "consistent right throughout the next seven games" after the Raiders-Sharks clash opens round five.</p> <p>"There are so many high shots that are accidental but if they're all going to be going to the bin, there's going to be a lot of football where we've got 12 v 13, or 12 v 12, or 11 v 11," Stuart said.</p> <p>"Because there's periods of play where the speed and the intensity of the match creates so many unexpected high shots that are not preempted.</p> <p>"So it's going to be an interesting round of football if they (the referees) are consistent for the whole eight games, which I hope they are, and I'm sure they will be."</p> </body>