Peter V'landys - New NRL/ARLC Chairman

[siv]

So 78% increase in 6 agains

Up from 35% after round 1

 

[nswarrior]

The next TV deal will be a game changer. Salary cap will increase significantly as a result and with 19 clubs with much bigger salary caps we will see clubs attract so much talent from Union. The game will boom.

Thats the big picture - the new rules are to make the game appealing to the masses. Sure they will need some tweaking but for ratings to be up over 10% on the huge ratings of 2025 they must be doing something right

 

[Trifili13]

People are using the argument that crowds, ratings, revenue etc are up so league must be good. I will probably be shot down here but just because something is popular doesn't necessarily mean it's good. Soccer, most popular sport in the world but alot on here think it's boring and how can three quarters of the world watch it. McDonald's, largest fast food company in the world, does that mean their food is the best.

Soccer might have tweeked their rules with keepers having 8 seconds to release the ball to speed up play, however if a keeper holds onto it for 2 more seconds and the ref doesn't award a corner, big deal it doesn't change game outcomes. But league refs arbitrarily giving 6 agains to one team and not the other does.

If the refs simply penalise instead of giving 6 agains then you will find the good sides not giving field position up as they are happy to give up an extra tackle or 2 now to set their defence and there would also be a disincentive for refs to hammer the weaker sides with penalties as it will show up in the match stats and also allows the captain to question what the penalty is for while with 6 agains there is no time for it and too late to query it once the game is lost.

 

[Captain Apollo]

The other thing to think about is what impact 6 agains have on the advantage rule. Referees can often find a breach during play that could result in a penalty. However, they are educated to see how the play unfolds before awarding a penalty in case the team not infringing makes a great play which negates the breach (e.g. make a 60 metre line break). Giving a 6 again instead appears to occur as soon as an infringement is spotted.

Hence teams become less expansive in play as, knowing they have a new set of 6, will be more conservative on that play. Additionally, if they botch it and commit a minor infringement (e.g. a knock on) on the play they got the 6 again, they don't get any advantage.

As such, its not as much an improvement as you'd think.

 

[SirPies&Beers]

People are using the argument that crowds, ratings, revenue etc are up so league must be good. I will probably be shot down here but just because something is popular doesn't necessarily mean it's good. Soccer, most popular sport in the world but alot on here think it's boring and how can three quarters of the world watch it. McDonald's, largest fast food company in the world, does that mean their food is the best.

Soccer might have tweeked their rules with keepers having 8 seconds to release the ball to speed up play, however if a keeper holds onto it for 2 more seconds and the ref doesn't award a corner, big deal it doesn't change game outcomes. But league refs arbitrarily giving 6 agains to one team and not the other does.

If the refs simply penalise instead of giving 6 agains then you will find the good sides not giving field position up as they are happy to give up an extra tackle or 2 now to set their defence and there would also be a disincentive for refs to hammer the weaker sides with penalties as it will show up in the match stats and also allows the captain to question what the penalty is for while with 6 agains there is no time for it and too late to query it once the game is lost.

people don't invest into shit products.

whether league is good or isnt is all subjective. the fact league is breaking all metrics is objective.
key difference.

 

[BuffaloRules]

.

People are using the argument that crowds, ratings, revenue etc are up so league must be good. I will probably be shot down here but just because something is popular doesn't necessarily mean it's good. Soccer, most popular sport in the world but alot on here think it's boring and how can three quarters of the world watch it. McDonald's, largest fast food company in the world, does that mean their food is the best.

Soccer might have tweeked their rules with keepers having 8 seconds to release the ball to speed up play, however if a keeper holds onto it for 2 more seconds and the ref doesn't award a corner, big deal it doesn't change game outcomes. But league refs arbitrarily giving 6 agains to one team and not the other does.

If the refs simply penalise instead of giving 6 agains then you will find the good sides not giving field position up as they are happy to give up an extra tackle or 2 now to set their defence and there would also be a disincentive for refs to hammer the weaker sides with penalties as it will show up in the match stats and also allows the captain to question what the penalty is for while with 6 agains there is no time for it and too late to query it once the game is lost.

There is no other team sport I can think of that is more influenced by officials decisions ( refs and bunker) than Rugby League … that will still be the case a long time after this 6 again “crisis” blows over in a couple of weeks …

 

[mongoose]

The 6 again rule has been essential in the codes rise in popularity to unprecedented levels since covid , that in turn has resulted in revenues being a record levels & a huge pay day coming with the next TV deal & with money we can finance development in pathways & invest in the expansion into other markets.

It stays .. period
Wankers wanting us to scrap it & return to wrestlemania need to be shown the door.

These latest adjustments to the 6 agains are a little frustrating but thats all , this narrative we're playing a completely different game is ridiculous & mainly coming from silly old farts yelling at clouds. We do need refs to just pull the reigns a bit , but also coaches & players to stop the cynical shit , ruck after ruck after ruck & then complain about 6 agains.

don't think anyone is debating the use of 6 agains, just questioning why is there such big increase in 2026? was last year a poor result for the game? hence why i joked that the Raiders winning the minor premiership has spooked V'landys for some reason....

 

[nick87]

in 2021 6 agains were introduced and it broke the sport
Since that time, we've slowly wound those back and found proper balance with 6 agains.... last year was arguably the best year of footy we've had in decades... i dont love the 6 again rule but at least last year, we found the right balance around when a 6 again should be called and when it shouldnt

This year, through 2 weeks we're right back in 2021 when we broke the sport with how possession flowed, momentum of the game and the level of fatigue it introduced.

This has to wound back, what we've seen through 2 weeks is dreadful for code and the product on field.

 

[Valheru]

One problem with the 6 against is a great point that Tom Dearden (I think) made in the presser the other day. The ref waves 6 again and the offending players don't know what it's for. They know roughly as in "ruck infringement" but they don't generally know who and exactly what they did which means it is very difficult to rectify on the run and leads to repeat 6 agains.

 

[Russell Crowe's Band]

in 2021 6 agains were introduced and it broke the sport
Since that time, we've slowly wound those back and found proper balance with 6 agains.... last year was arguably the best year of footy we've had in decades... i dont love the 6 again rule but at least last year, we found the right balance around when a 6 again should be called and when it shouldnt

This year, through 2 weeks we're right back in 2021 when we broke the sport with how possession flowed, momentum of the game and the level of fatigue it introduced.

This has to wound back, what we've seen through 2 weeks is dreadful for code and the product on field.

nah nah nah, the horse man is genius

 

[Iamback]

One problem with the 6 against is a great point that Tom Dearden (I think) made in the presser the other day. The ref waves 6 again and the offending players don't know what it's for. They know roughly as in "ruck infringement" but they don't generally know who and exactly what they did which means it is very difficult to rectify on the run and leads to repeat 6 agains.

On the flip side they can't waste time arguing with the ref about the decision that way.

I am sure when they do video they can see exactly what was done

 

[Iamback]

don't think anyone is debating the use of 6 agains, just questioning why is there such big increase in 2026? was last year a poor result for the game? hence why i joked that the Raiders winning the minor premiership has spooked V'landys for some reason....

Hands on the ball is now a penalty or 6 again, that is the big change

 

[Iamback]

People are using the argument that crowds, ratings, revenue etc are up so league must be good. I will probably be shot down here but just because something is popular doesn't necessarily mean it's good. Soccer, most popular sport in the world but alot on here think it's boring and how can three quarters of the world watch it. McDonald's, largest fast food company in the world, does that mean their food is the best.

Soccer might have tweeked their rules with keepers having 8 seconds to release the ball to speed up play, however if a keeper holds onto it for 2 more seconds and the ref doesn't award a corner, big deal it doesn't change game outcomes. But league refs arbitrarily giving 6 agains to one team and not the other does.

If the refs simply penalise instead of giving 6 agains then you will find the good sides not giving field position up as they are happy to give up an extra tackle or 2 now to set their defence and there would also be a disincentive for refs to hammer the weaker sides with penalties as it will show up in the match stats and also allows the captain to question what the penalty is for while with 6 agains there is no time for it and too late to query it once the game is lost.

There was a report today about there being 10 against a game.

We were getting that in penalties before the change.

Would you prefer that way or this way?

And it is easy to say teams not to break the rules but they will always do what they think helps them win

I think soccer is shit too but I like the contact and fast pace of RL, We are getting that now

 

[Captain Apollo]

There was a report today about there being 10 against a game.

We were getting that in penalties before the change.

.....

Were we? Where's your evidence?

I'll bet many potential penalties were not called as non-infringing team gained an advantage, so it was play on. There is no "advantage" play as the 6 again is always called.

 

[Russell Crowe's Band]

don't think anyone is debating the use of 6 agains, just questioning why is there such big increase in 2026? was last year a poor result for the game? hence why i joked that the Raiders winning the minor premiership has spooked V'landys for some reason....

nah last year rocked but horse man had to get his big hoofs in there

 

[Valheru]

On the flip side they can't waste time arguing with the ref about the decision that way.

I am sure when they do video they can see exactly what was done

Yes but the game is gone by the time the video session comes.

I'll reiterate just because you lose the first few minutes of a game it doesn't mean the momentum should be against you the whole game. The rules are allowing for this to be the case far too often.

 

[Iamback]

Yes but the game is gone by the time the video session comes.

I'll reiterate just because you lose the first few minutes of a game it doesn't mean the momentum should be against you the whole game. The rules are allowing for this to be the case far too often.

A team wanting to slow the play down, wants the ref to stop play and explain it to them.

A team never has 100% momentum all the time, what was stopping Dearden kicking a 40/20 or a 20/40 to get momentum back

That game had 13 error each side. Instead of just watching the ball. They play at it,

Ref calls a scrum, momentum is stopped

They also had 2 captain's challenges to halt momentum.

Lodge no try. Stopped play.

Hell Payten only used 6 interchanges, using 8 gives them more stamina

 

[Iamback]

Were we? Where's your evidence?

I'll bet many potential penalties were not called as non-infringing team gained an advantage, so it was play on. There is no "advantage" play as the 6 again is always called.

Plenty of old game records on line. NRL.com you can choose different years to compare to

Here is a random game from Round 1 2019.

Low scoring, 17 penalties given. I don't remember it but it looks like an ugly mess of a game.

 

[Captain Apollo]

The other thing to remember, when did this change to the 2021 rules regarding 6 agains come in? 2 weeks before the start of the regular season. As such sides would have been training not knowing this was coming.

Like it or not (the rule change that is), 2 weeks out from the season's start is a f'ing stupid time to introduce such a big change. As such, is it any wonder there is such a big increase in restarts being granted as a consequence.

That is on the NRL. V'Landys can say what he wants about team's discipline, but how about his organisation show that its got its shit together and stop making major rule changes just before the season proper starts. I mean how many sports anywhere in the world make such changes to the core fabric of its on field rules just before it's season starts?

 

[Iamback]

Plenty of old game records on line. NRL.com you can choose different years to compare to

Here is a random game from Round 1 2019.

Low scoring, 17 penalties given. I don't remember it but it looks like an ugly mess of a game.

Incase that was an outlier due to the weather. My sides Round 2 performance on a dry night.

Doesn't seem any more exciting