He feels it would help deal with two problems in the game - ensuring NRL players' welfare is looked after in treating potentially serous neck injuries.

Plus, stopping players pretending to be injured to try and milk a penalty from a crusher tackle.

Stuart praised the NRL's crackdown on the dangerous tackle, with the penalties the match review committee can hand out increased for it.

The crusher tackle has been under the spotlight this season due to a spate of them this season.

That spotlight intensified on Thursday night when the Melbourne Storm had halfback Cooper Johns and forward Albert Vete put on report for crusher tackles only to be later cleared by the match review committee.

It led to concerns Parramatta Eels players were staying down to try and draw penalties - something Eels coach Brad Arthur dismissed.

The officials missed a crusher tackle by Eels forward Marata Nuikore, who faces up to a two-match ban for his tackle on Tom Eisenhuth.

Stuart felt a rule similar to the head injury assessment, where players are taken off and given a concussion test, could be introduced.

"I think it's great we are cracking down on the crusher because it could be very, very dangerous and something when you're looking at the spine and the neck you do not want that extent of an injury to a player," he said on Friday.

"We have to be very careful though because we have a situation at the moment where a lot of attackers back into the defensive line as well and we're finding an exorbitant amount of penalties given to players getting into that position.

"There's others there where it's a legitimate crusher tackle. Those individuals and those tackles have to be eliminated from the game.

"We don't want to be risking any player with the extent of that type of injury.

"There are accidents in the game too and the last thing we need is players laying down milking a penalty on it because it's rife in the game and we need to get it out of it.

"So that's why I talk about, like the HIA, we should be taking the players off for an assessment for 15 minutes if there is any concern with a penalty over a crusher tackle."

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But the NRL felt the rule could be open to abuse with players trying to get a free interchange by coming off for medical assessment.

They also thought it could encourage players to hide injuries from medical staff so they didn't have to go off.

Those are both concerns that have been similarly raised for the HIA.

NRL head of football Graham Annesley said it was difficult for officials to know whether a payer was pretending to be hurt.

He felt the onus was on the players not to do so.

"In general, players have an ethical responsibility not to abuse rules put in place to protect them from injury." Annesley said.

"Suggestions of having players spend mandatory periods of time off the field if they claim they are injured from these types of tackles will only open the door to abuse of the interchange rule.

"The bottom line is, players always have a duty to accept personal responsibility for their actions as their own integrity and credibility is at stake."

Raiders hooker Siliva Havili found himself in a crusher tackle last weekend, which led to Brisbane prop Payne Haas currently serving a two-game ban.

Havili said it could lead to the neck injury ex-Raider Joey Leilua sustained last season, which saw the powerful centre miss almost four months of football.

"It's definitely an injury you don't want to have, we saw [Leilua] go down last year with that neck injury, it's not the best of injuries to have," Havili said.

"Unfortunately for myself I was on the other end of it last week. I told [the physio] I didn't feel nothing 'cos I don't have a neck.

"It's pretty good that they're cracking down on it. For myself and [Josh Papalii] actually we probably don't feel it too much."

Stuart said players were trained in how to avoid getting into a position where they could commit a crusher tackle.

But there would always be cases where accidents simply happen. It's a contact sport after all.

"There are techniques how you've got to pop their head out when a player backs into you - the defender has the responsibility," Stuart said.

"It happens a lot in the game where an attacker uses a shoulder and then backs into the collision to try and spin out of it.

"There are techniques where you pop their head out.

"That's for the welfare of the attacker and the defender in regards to not getting into that position of a crusher."

NRL ROUND 15

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Gold Coast Titans at the Gold Coast, 3pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Jordan Rapana, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Curtis Scott, 5. Nick Cotric, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. George Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Siliva Havili, 10. Dunamis Lui, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Hudson Young. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Joe Tapine, 16. Ryan Sutton, 17. Corey Harawira-Naera. Reserves: 19. Harley Smith-Shields, 21. Matt Frawley.

Titans squad: 1. Alexander Brimson, 18. Corey Thompson, 3. Brian Kelly, 4. Young Tonumaipea, 5. Phillip Sami, 6. Ashley Taylor, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Jarrod Wallace, 9. Nathan Peats, 10. Jaimin Jolliffe, 17. Sam Stone, 12. Keegan Hipgrave, 13. Moeaki Fotuaika. Interchange: 14. Tyrone Peachey, 15. Sam Lisone, 16. Beau Fermor, 20. Jai Whitbread. Reserves: 19. Tanah Boyd, 21. Erin Clark.