Canterbury skipper Michael Ennis would be happy to see the shoulder charge remain in the NRL and claims players do not go out to hurt opponents with big hits.

There have been renewed calls for league to follow the lead of rugby and outlaw the tactic following Greg Inglis’ shot on St George Illawarra’s Dean Young that left him badly concussed on Saturday night.

However, Ennis said he would be happy to see the shoulder charge stay in the game while acknowledging the argument for banning it.

“It’s been a bit unfortunate this year that some of them have been focused on with the head contact that has come into it,” Ennis said on Monday.

“I am sure fans like to see collisions on the footy field and they are not always shoulder charges. But to be honest, it’s not a real issue for me.”

Ennis did concede that seeing players suffer injuries due to blows to the head is not a good look for the game, but said the physical contact is an important aspect of the sport.

“You never like to see anyone go off with any sort of injury, but it’s part of the game. It’s been around for many years,” he said.

“It’s a contact sport and things can go wrong.

“In all my years of footy I have never seen a player practise the shoulder charge in training.”