With the NRL off-season underway, we turn our thoughts to the things that annoyed us in 2018, and propose a Magnificent Seven of potential NRL Changes we’d like to make for next year.
Not all of them are on field, with a few suggestions for the NRL draw and Judiciary to even it out.
Most have probably been raised at one time of another, but never under the banner of Magnificent Seven of NRL Changes.
NRL CHANGES 1 – 7 TACKLE SET POST PENALTY
Penalties were a blight on the game during the 2018, and eventually it led to many a player being sent to the sin bin. But usually not before the whole game’s rhythm had been ruined.
What is not needed is a crackdown at any stage of the season. Set the rules, and stick to them.
But teams will try and coach around this sadly. Perhaps you could have a Fair Play bonus where teams would be rewarded financially for conceding the fewest penalties.
Even easier, and more direct impact could mean you make the set after the penalty has been given a 7 tackle set, similar to kicking the ball dead. This probably won’t stop all the penalties in the heat of the moment, but hopefully it would be a consideration and/or deterrent to multiple penalties in the 20 metre zone. Teams knowing that they’ll have to defend for one more tackle every time.
Although at this point, we like to contradict ourselves just a little and say we’d like to see late hits of players who have passed the ball. Usually performed by the big guys on star playmakers. Playing hard and tough is great and welcomed, but cheap shots aren’t.
NRL CHANGES 2 – TWO PASSES FROM A SCRUM
The scrum is a great opportunity to run a set play, and teams like South Sydney really exposed this in 2018, but far too frequently it turns out to be a damp squib, with a monotonous hit up from one of the big forwards standing at first receiver. Boring. Much like the fact that nearly every team does the exact same kick off and that no one learned from the Ipswich Jets, who get the ball back from their short kick offs about 50%.
Since the NRL sides are going to be coached exactly to the rulebook, why not force them to make two passes before being tackled. This will give teams the chance to spread it more than they normally would, and would hopefully lead to more post-scrum action.
There would be fn too, seeing the panic as a team tries hard to push a second pass if the defensive side are on the ball and have chased hard. This could means that defensive teams in scrum could put a speedy type at lock whose sole job is to harass the other team into not making two passes.
Imagine the refreshing change, albeit small change, when the scrum becomes an interesting focus point, not just a stoppage in play and a few players plodding around for a bit before normal hit up routine restarts.
The punishment for not making tow passes is a scrum to the opposing side. Letting the fun begin all over again.
NRL CHANGES 3 – COUNTRY WEEK OR COUNTRY NIGHT
Seeing that the NRL are having trouble bringing in a crowd on certain nights, or at certain grounds for certain teams, shouldn’t one of the NRL Changes be taking more games to the country.
2018 saw more games than ever before taken to the regional areas, and given the turnout and atmosphere you could argue they were all a success.
Some teams like Penrith and South Sydney have been taking a game to the regions for a while, some like the Gold Coast did it in 2018 due their home ground being taken over by the Commonwealth Games.
But the NRL is always claiming it is very interested in grass roots, so why not force all teams to play a game in the bush. Or have an entire Country Week round like the Intrust Super Cup in Queensland.
The Country Week has been a very popular round for the Intrust Super Cup, and is well supported by the locals, and teams alike. The clubs actually go to the region well in advance of the actual match and are involved in the communities. Which should be at the heart of the Country Week round, not just the game. 8 teams would take a home game to the country one season, and the remaining teams to do it the next season.
Alternatively, you could make all teams take one a season to the bush. Preferably the same game for fairness. The NRL already has a timeslot in the Friday 6pm kick off, that it doesn’t give a sh!t about whether fans go or not as it is well known to be pure pay TV benefit. There’s also the Thursday night 7:50pm kick off which looks suitable.
The Friday 6pm average crowd is just 13,600, and the Thursday night crowd average is just 11,300 if you exclude Broncos games.
So the NRL aren’t going to lose too many people by taking the games to the bush. It would be much easier for people in the regions to get to a Friday night 6pm kick off than most of the capitals.
This year’s finals series proved they will never match the AFL for bums on seats, so why not be the best grassroots major code in the country.
Yes, this includes the Broncos who could give up a night at Suncorp to share the love around Queensland just once.
NRL CHANGES 4 – PLAYERS PENALISED FOR KICKING/THROWING THE BALL AWAY
Whether players like it or not, they are role models. Especially on the field.
How many players have copied Jonathan Thurston’s gesture of picking up his own kicking tee and handing it back to the runner or child.
And how many kick the ball away or throw it away from an opponent rather than handing it over.
Tough but fair should always apply, and why isn’t there room for sportsmanship.
Soccer players are yellow carded for kicking the ball away, so why not at least penalise the same offence as part of our suggested NRL changes.
It would certainly crack down on the tedious wait for fans as they kick the ball 30 metres away and stroll back and fans wait 30 seconds for nothing.
NRL CHANGES 5 – 10 MINS IN BIN REPLACED BY 5 MINS – BUT INCLUDE ALL REPORTABLE OFFENCES
We saw so many sin bins in 2018, and some of them were for very pissweak reasons.
However, a player could smash someone on the head, be reported, yet stay on the field. Even when their victim takes no further part.
A better idea would be the reported player stays off the field for as long as the victim does, but that would never happen.
Since the NRL are reluctant to have both five and ten minute sin bins, why not reduce them to five minutes and it then applies to all professional fouls (most of which are pretty pissweak in the grand scale of offences) and applies to any player put on report.
This means the harsh ten minutes in the bin would be reduced to fairer five minutes, and the more thuggish reported offence rightly increased from zero to five minutes.
NRL CHANGES 6 – 30 SECONDS FOR KICK CONVERSIONS
We admit we watch very few NRL Games live. For two reasons – one due to nightly routine with children, and secondly because watching it on replay saves the amount of time wasted waiting for try decisions and attempts at conversion.
While we’d love there to be a time or replay limit on the Video Referee, that will never happen.
So why set a clock for how long you ave to take a conversion.
Our suggestion is from the time all the attacking players have left the in goal area after try celebrations, or the video referee has confirmed the decision, the player has 30 seconds to kick the ball.
This means the ball has to have been kicked before the shot clock ends. All good if it is mid-flight, which no doubt a lot ill be as the limits are pushed.
The punishment for not complying is simply not getting the chance to add two points.
NRL CHANGES 7 – SIMPLER JUDICIARY
Firstly, no carryover points, no early plea bonus.
Set a penalty and grade to a reportable offence. Unless it is a super crime which needs to be reviewed.
For example a high shot that was careless is one week, not 100 points. A punch is two weeks, not 200 points.
No early plea, you take the week or you try and fight to get it off.
This means a one week offence is just that, not a one week offence but one still plays because of an early plea. If it is reportable, and worth a week, then it is exactly as it says.
Yes that would hurt the player who has been charged once in 10 year career, but it is still reportable
AND…..A FEEDER CLUB FOR THE PNG HUNTERS
Surely some club has the foresight to take advantage of the riches that is the PNG rugby league talent.
Some lucky players get chosen by NRL clubs, but most if not all of them spend most of their time in the feeder club for the NRL side.
But why take one when you can have them all?
PNG Hunters sadly see a lot of their best talent go elsewhere for the NRL opportunity, sadly way too many to the UK. Like the Boas brothers for 2019.
Case in point was the excellent fullback Stargroth Amean, who gave up playing mid season to concentrate on studies, such is the lack of opportunities.
