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The NRL will hand down tougher penalties to players found guilty of crusher tackles after a concerning rise in the number of offences in 2020.

Crusher tackles have more than doubled in 2020 forcing the NRL to crack down on the dangerous practice with significantly harsher penalties.

Across the 14 rounds of this season, 18 players have been charged with crusher tackle offences.

That is compared to 12 charges last year across 25 rounds and finals.

The concerning rise has prompted a serious response from the ARL commission, who on Tuesday approved longer bans for players found guilty of the charge.

From Thursday night, a new crusher tackle charge has been added to the NRL's judiciary code of procedure with a grade one penalty to cost players a two-week ban.

Previously the tackle fell under the dangerous contact - head/neck charge with a grade one infringement carrying 100 points, which has now doubled.

With no prior offences a player could previously avoid a suspension with an early guilty plea, while a grade two charge carried a base penalty of 300 points.

However, there has been a steep rise in the minimum penalty for the crusher tackle, with a grade two charge to carry 350 base points, while a grade three will be 500 - which carries a five-week ban.

"We have seen a concerning increase in the crusher-type tackles in recent years and the commission has approved stronger deterrents to reverse this trend," Graham Annesley, the NRL's head of football, said.

"Crusher tackles are dangerous and carry with them the real potential for catastrophic consequences to the tackled player.

"Despite the charges and warnings previously imposed, we have not seen a decline in offences, so it has become clear that the penalties we had in place were not sufficient.

"While we never want to see players suspended and would much prefer the offences do not occur, we have a responsibility to strike the right balance between deterrence and punishment.

"This is a serious player safety issue and the changes are supported by the Rugby League Players Association."

Brisbane prop Payne Haas is the last player charged for a crusher tackle before the harsher penalties come into force.

The State of Origin forward will miss the next two matches for a grade two crusher on Siliva Havili in the Broncos' loss to Canberra on Saturday.