11 A SIDE TRIAL THIS WEEKEND
Fox Sports will give every Rugby League fan the chance to watch the historic 11-a-side Toyota Cup match between Newcastle and Melbourne at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Saturday night.
Fox Sports 2 will broadcast the Toyota Cup match live from 3.15pm as the NRL trials the 11-a-side format and a new in-goal kicking rule.
The experimental rules follow on from the NRLs trial of two referees in recent Toyota Cup matches, including tonights Roosters-Rabbitohs match at the Sydney Football Stadium, while a second 11-a-side trial will also take place in the Round 26 Toyota Cup match between the Sharks and Cowboys at Toyota Stadium.
We have said from the start that we would use the Toyota Cup to experiment with suggested rule changes and I would like to thank the clubs involved for agreeing to take part, NRL Chief Operating Officer, Mr Graham Annesley, said.
They are experiments, not imminent rule changes, and I am sure all stakeholders in the game, from the players, to coaches, match officials and fans, will be interested to watch the impact they have.
Under the experimental rules for Saturday nights match:
Only 11 players will be on the field at any one time
Teams are permitted to have 6 players on the bench
Interchange will be increased to 10 in each half of the match (i.e. 20 in total)
If at any stage either coach feels the need to revert back to 13-a-side then the opposing coach must agree and the game will continue as per normal. Interchanges will return to the standard 10 for the remainder of the game, commencing from No.1 again as soon as the game reverts to 13-on-13.
The scrum will consist of 5 players with 6 players in the back line.
The game will also experiment with a new rule that will be referred to as the Defusing of the Kick in the In Goal Area.
The game will be restarted with an optional kick from the centre of the 20-metre line if:
An attacking player uses any type of kick (i.e. bomb, grubber, chip, drop kick) into the in-goal area and the defending player defuses the kick by grounding the ball in the in-goal area, gaining possession by catching the ball or making the ball dead in-goal by passing, knocking, or kicking it over the dead ball line or touch in-goal line.
In the event of a simultaneous grounding of the ball in the in-goal area then the attacking team will receive the advantage, as is currently the case.
The rules governing defenders defusing the bomb will apply in relation to determining where they left the ground to defuse the kick.
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