Canterbury coach Des Hasler said NRL players wearing helmets is the only way to protect players from copping serious head knocks as the Bulldogs prepare to fight Frank Pritchard's high tackle charge at the NRL judiciary on Wednesday night.
Hasler is confident Pritchard has no case to answer for his hit on Penrith's David Simmons which left the winger with a serious concussion and forced to spend the night in hospital.
The incident, which saw Pritchard slapped with a grade one carless high tackle charge, has caused major debate in the game with some believing it was simply a good shoulder charge that accidently hit the player in the head while others believe there's no room for that kind of tackle in the game.
Leading doctor Nathan Gibbs believes the NRL aren't doing enough to stamp out head high tackles and said the penalties for such tackles simply aren't tough enough.
But Hasler was quick to defend his star back-rower over the incident and said it was simply too difficult to completely stamp out head knocks as accidents will always occur in a contact sport.
"You are talking milliseconds here," the Bulldogs boss told reporters on Wednesday.
"Nathan (Gibbs) is probably right but first and foremost it is a contact sport played by elite athletes that are 110kg plus and running excessive speeds."
"You've got to draw the line."
"I respect Nathan's words unless they want us to wear helmets."
When asked if he agreed with Dr Gibbs suggestion that tackles should only be allowed under the nipple line, Hasler said: "If Nathan looks at a tackle and they really look at the tackle ... you have to go back and see the Penrith player's body motion."
"It's a split second where Simmons, I think he's six-foot three or six-foot four, he changes his running style and becomes five-foot three."
"It's a really tough one to adjudicate on that's why we're going to defend Frank because we don't think he's been careless."
If the Bulldogs are unsuccessful at the judiciary, Pritchard will be forced to sit out the club's clash with St George Illawarra on Saturday night but Hasler is confident they can beat the charge.
"We're not expecting to get dusted," he said.
"We wouldn't be going if we did. The fact of the matter is we think Frank's tackle is a fair and legitimate tackle and we want to defend and support Frank in that."
"I think if you really dig further the undertones in the world of rugby league people know it was a fair tackle."
"There was nothing malicious and there was nothing intentional about it."
"It was a tackle he has learned, practised and executed all his career and he wasn't careless."
English import James Graham or New Zealand international Greg Eastwood are the two players most likely to come into the starting side should Pritchard be ruled out of the St George Illawarra clash.
The joint venture club were written off in premiership calculations in the off-season with the departure of super coach Wayne Bennett and key players Darius Boyd and Mark Gasnier but Hasler believes they are still one of the favourites for the title.
"We're playing a Dragons side that was probably a little maligned in the off season, they were supposed to be sliding and slipping away (this season) but they showed last week they are still a benchmark," Hasler said.
"To go to Newcastle and their stadium up there and come away with a win tells everybody they are not a spent force."
"They'll be a very difficult and a tough side ... we'll need to show a lot more discipline."