A chicken wing tackle is a move in

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

, in which a player locks an opponent's arm so that he or she cannot legally move the ball. It is a controversial move that has injured players and resulted in fines and suspensions for players performing the tackle. The phrase was coined by Fox Sports NRL Producer Geoff Bullock (a.k.a. Bluey) in 2008.

Rugby league

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

forward

Adam Blair Adam Ngawati Blair (born 20 March 1986) is a New Zealand rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who played as a forward and in the National Rugby League (NRL), and the New Zealand and the New Zealand Māori inter ...

was found guilty of committing a chicken wing tackle in an Australian Rugby League match against

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

in April 2008. A former Melbourne Storm player, of

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...

was fined £300 after performing the tackle, with a disciplinary panel finding him guilty of "behaviour contrary to the true spirit of the game by making a dangerous tackle".

Australian rules football

The use of the chicken wing tackle in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling ...

is generally considered to have been picked up from

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

. It became a controversy after Kangaroos' skipper

Brent Harvey Brent Harvey (born 14 May 1978), often known by his nickname "Boomer", is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He holds the record for most matches playe ...

was chicken winged in 2009 during an Australian football match and suffered a dislocated elbow that caused him to miss months of play. The tackle has been furiously slammed by some saying it must be banned. AFL umpires manager Jeff Gieschen is confident the practice is not about to become commonplace. In July 2012, Carlton captain Chris Judd was involved in another "chicken wing tackle" controversy, in a game against North Melbourne. North player

Leigh Adams Leigh Scott Adams (born 28 April 1971 in Mildura, Victoria)Oakes, P.(2004). ''British Speedway Who's Who''. is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider. He is a multiple Speedway Grand Prix winner and World Team Champion. He also wo ...

had been tackled by another player, and was lying on the ground, as Judd grabbed his arm and pulled it backwards in the 'chicken wing' style. Judd was widely criticised in the media for this action and was cited for misconduct by the Match Review Panel. He was subsequently suspended for 4 games by the tribunal.

References

Rugby league terminology Rugby league in Australia Australian rules football terminology Laws of Australian rules football National Rugby League Rugby league controversies Banned sports tactics {{AFL-stub