Canterbury prop Aaron Woods says the NRL's mid-season decision allowing referees to use the sin bin for late tackles will protect playmakers from injury.
"It's not a bad rule to be honest ... I've seen the ones (late tackles) on Johnathan Thurston as of late and they're pretty late," Woods told Big Sports Breakfast on Wednesday.
"You don't want to see that sort of thing. I think it's really good to protect our playmakers."
NRL CEO Todd Greenberg announced on Tuesday that referees could use the sin bin for foul play, but had also been instructed to ease up on "nitpicking" penalties.
Immortal Andrew Johns and North Queensland skipper Johnathan Thurston have vocally campaigned for bigger penalties for anyone who targets a playmaker after they have passed or kicked the ball.
Canberra's Charlie Gubb was handed a grade two dangerous contact charge for his late dive straight into Nathan Cleary's legs midway through the Panthers' 23-22 win on Friday.
Woods said the tackle was "pretty dangerous" and playmakers should be protected so they wouldn't "be out for the whole season from a little incident that could be avoided".
The prop says it is hard to get the timing right when tackling a kicker, after Cleary spent seven weeks recovering from an injury when he was felled in a tackle by Woods following a bomb.
"I did one on Nathan Cleary earlier in the year, sort of tackled him as he kicked it but he still hurt himself. There was no intent to hurt him," Woods said.
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