Peter V'landys - New NRL/ARLC Chairman

[The Axe of Druss]

Aside from a couple of games, I cannot understand how anyone can think the RL so far in 2026 has been "boring"

 

[newc18]

Aside from a couple of games, I cannot understand how anyone can think the RL so far in 2026 has been "boring"

I find a lot of the time it's the older people who want to go back to how it was before six-again. They constantly complain.

League is just doing what it's done for the last 100+ years. Change the rules to make it a more entertaining sport.

 

[Wb1234]

Aside from a couple of games, I cannot understand how anyone can think the RL so far in 2026 has been "boring"

Should aim for 100 points scored or more in games

 

[T-Boon]

"Under the 5 metre rule the ruck was unimportant."

Are you kidding me? It was bloody important. Fact is the ruck was in essence supposed to be a mini-scrum, evidenced by the fact that the marker could strike at the ball when it was played with a view to gaining possession for his team. The only reason that stopped was when they changed the rules to outlaw the marker or any defending player from striking at the ball at the ruck.

I should say ruck speed was unimportant and I should say unimportant relative to how it has become under the 10 metre rule where we have the idiotic situation of coaches/players spending more time practicing wrestling than the skills of tackling and ball playing.

 

[T-Boon]

Should aim for 100 points scored or more in games

Dont be stupid. Nobody wants that or will get any where near that.
It is about quality. We don't want a situation where clubs barly practice attack because the defense is too dominant anyway and thus just hoist bombs - which, when that is all an attack has, makes for garbage sport/entertainment and ugly tactics from the coaches.
We also may now get to a point where due to fatigue, and opportunity being otherwise available, the amount of decoy running decreases. They didnt always need 2 decoy runners per backline move to create space, that is a recent situation to do with nowhere near enough fatige in the game.

 

[T-Boon]

"The open contest that these set restarts create is resulting in less structured play and less of the boring “block play for a block play” type of attacking sequence"

A quote from the eighth in the above Age article.

What does Joey mean by "block play for a block play"? Is the "for a" meant to be "after".

What even is a block play? It is just a decoy right?

 

[Wb1234]

Dont be stupid. Nobody wants that or will get any where near that.
It is about quality. We don't want a situation where clubs barly practice attack because the defense is too dominant anyway and thus just hoist bombs - which, when that is all an attack has, makes for garbage sport/entertainment and ugly tactics from the coaches.
We also may now get to a point where due to fatigue, and opportunity being otherwise available, the amount of decoy running decreases. They didnt always need 2 decoy runners per backline move to create space, that is a recent situation to do with nowhere near enough fatige in the game.

Quality isn’t what is happening now

Still the storm and Penrith have adapted to the new rules which shows good teams will always keep up whilst the losers struggle

Can’t believe Penriths defence in what is basically a touch football comp

 

[mongoose]

Aside from a couple of games, I cannot understand how anyone can think the RL so far in 2026 has been "boring"

i can't understand how anyone wants to see Grant Atkins blow pedantic 6 again after 6 again early in games, allowing one team to gain unstoppable momentum.

 

[T-Boon]

Can’t believe Penriths defence in what is basically a touch football comp

these are dumb comments you are making. You are normally a good and rational poster - pull yourself together.

 

[T-Boon]

i can't understand how anyone wants to see Grant Atkins blow pedantic 6 again after 6 again early in games, allowing one team to gain unstoppable momentum.

Bring in PVLs kick off rule and also find a way to make 6 again calls challengeable.

 

[Wb1234]

these are dumb comments you are making. You are normally a good and rational poster - pull yourself together.

NYC ? lol

League is a game of attack and defence

Endless attack is boring

I enjoy collisions, big hits and gasp a good defensive set

Dragons defence 2009 to 2010 was amazing how they would crush teams in defence

I enjoy watching Penrith crush teams with their defence and even tire them down in attack

Tries off the back of a random penalty bug me too that’s just a lottery

Loads of tries are literally just a training run where they run the ball out the backline to a winger

You watch it will settle down in a few weeks Pvl knows he’s over done it

And we’re not talking about wrestling coming back either that’s the other extreme

 

[T-Boon]

NYC ? lol

League is a game of attack and defence

Endless attack is boring

I enjoy collisions, big hits and gasp a good defensive set

Dragons defence 2009 to 2010 was amazing how they would crush teams in defence

I enjoy watching Penrith crush teams with their defence and even tire them down in attack

Tries off the back of a random penalty bug me too that’s just a lottery

Loads of tries are literally just a training run where they run the ball out the backline to a winger

You watch it will settle down in a few weeks Pvl knows he’s over done it

And we’re not talking about wrestling coming back either that’s the other extreme

Joey's point of view is a better one than yours. Open footy is good for the majority of fans - but upsets a few traditionalists.
If offense is on top teams actually practice offense and big plays are more likely - including big plays in defense such as interceptions and desperate one on one tackles.
There is still a heap of wrestling going on - I don't know what you are talking about saying "we're not talking about wrestling coming back"? There are still heaps of gang tackles, flips, maneuvers etc.

 

[T-Boon]

NYC ? lol

League is a game of attack and defence

Endless attack is boring

I enjoy collisions, big hits and gasp a good defensive set

Dragons defence 2009 to 2010 was amazing how they would crush teams in defence

That was probably the worst brand of RL (together with Souths style of attack when the won and also Laurie Daleys NSW teams) in the history of the modern game.
I honestly do not remember the Dragons defense from that year but their "attack" was disgusting, for a premiership winning team, because no doubt they were spending 70-80% of their practice time working on defense/dark arts.

 

[Captain Apollo]

That was probably the worst brand of RL (together with Souths style of attack when the won and also Laurie Daleys NSW teams) in the history of the modern game.
I honestly do not remember the Dragons defense from that year but their "attack" was disgusting, for a premiership winning team, because no doubt they were spending 70-80% of their practice time working on defense/dark arts.

Yes, Wayne Bennett is such a master of wrestling and other similar dark arts

As Jack Gibson said when coaching at Souths in the late 1970s and copping a roast from those saying Souths weren't playing expansive, attacking football,he could only design a game plan around the talent in his squad, and the squad he had couldn't play football that way. By comparison, go back and look at the Dragons halves during that time, one was a converted fullback (in Hornby) and the other (i.e. Soward) was effectively a reclamation project after being stuffed up by Ricky Stuart. Add in Dean Young, who was not a great ball player at hooker, and it was not the most creative lot of playmakers they had in key positions.

Also, the Roosters players from the 1974-75 sides, and the Eels players from 1981-82-83 have said they spent much if not all of their time at training working on defence. None of those side would ever have been described as being "disgusting" in attack.

 

[Maximus]

Bring in PVLs kick off rule and also find a way to make 6 again calls challengeable.

There is a way. It's called making them penalties.

 

[Wb1234]

That was probably the worst brand of RL (together with Souths style of attack when the won and also Laurie Daleys NSW teams) in the history of the modern game.
I honestly do not remember the Dragons defense from that year but their "attack" was disgusting, for a premiership winning team, because no doubt they were spending 70-80% of their practice time working on defense/dark arts.

You want every team winning comps playing the same way ?

Dragons attack was awful too

And you leave my bunnies alone 2014 gf was one of the best experiences league has given me

I was there on with seats on the half way line ten rows in front of the coaches box

 

[Iamback]

i can't understand how anyone wants to see Grant Atkins blow pedantic 6 again after 6 again early in games, allowing one team to gain unstoppable momentum.

You should watch the game more, there are so many stoppages. Teams can get momentum back, they choose not to take the risks

 

[Iamback]

There is a way. It's called making them penalties.

So you want to back to games with 17 penalties a game? And there is no flow?

 

[Wb1234]

I just checked out with ai can someone say if it’s true that the nrl has a higher average points scored per game now than super league

That’s a joke if so

 

[Steel Saints]

In football/ soccer, i checked the scores in the champions league round of 16 knockout phase where apparently the best teams in Europe are up against each other. Maybe the refs are applying their own version of a 6 again rule:

Atletico Madrid 5
Tottenham 2

Atalanta 1
Bayern 6

PSG 5
Chelsea 2

Bodo/Glimt 3
Sporting 0

Real Madrid 3
Man City 0

Sporting 5
Bodo/ Glimt 0 (2nd leg)

Chelsea 0
PSG 3 (2nd leg)

Barcelona 7
Newcastle 2 (2nd leg)

Liverpool 4
Galatasaray 0 (2nd leg)

Bayern 4
Atalanta 1 (2nd leg)