News 2021 NRL rule changes

[some11]

Fitness will take over skill in this sport

Regarding the comparisons to union, we've driven useless fat merkins out of our game at least.

 

[macnaz]

What constitutes a ‘genuine attempt to play the ball with their foot’? So often you see players almost miming a play the ball. Expect this one to be penalised a lot in the opening couple of weeks, people will complain and then it won’t be enforced anymore.

OR when they need to give Souffs a penalty!

 

[Smug Panther]

Lord Peter hadn't put a foot wrong until now. FMD no one wants 2 point field goals

 

[damoocow]

Welcome to Not Rugby League...

 

[Mr Angry]

Kent, wish I saw his face when he first heard this.

Cannot see him being a fan.

 

[Captain Apollo]

I don;t think it'll be that bad, I think they trialled it in some games at the back end of the 2020 regular season didn't they?

Essentially for the most part its a quick check before the kicker lines up for the conversion and if anything is amiss they'll pull it up.

I could be wrong, though

No offence mate, but how long do some of the video refs take in reviewing a try? We see them going over, and over, AND OVER the same footage so many times when the rest of us watching at home, let alone blind Freddy can tell its is a try or no try. Considering there is a shot clock on kicks at goal, what happens if the kicker is read to go but the Video Ref is still reviewing? What happens if the shot clock expires due to the Video Ref?

Sorry but its just stupid. Its this expectation that humans can be 100% perfect and always get things right. Experience has shown, especially with the NRL Video Review, that this is not the case and never has been. To expect that this change will make all decisions 100% correct from now on is just too dumb to quantify.

On one other rule change, the giving of a full penalty for teams that break from a scrum early instead of a differential penalty. Really, we need to wind back the clock on that too to the early 1970s before the differential penalty came in when if the defending team conceded a scrum penalty within goal kicking range, the attacking team would kick for goal? That is the reason the differential penalty was introduced to encourage teams to run the ball instead of stopping for a penalty shot at goal. All the NRL needed to do was get the referee to enforce what was already in the rule book, instead of just ignoring it, let alone bring back this retrograde piece of garbage.

If I want to be bored to tears and watch umpteen attempted field goals and penalty goal per match, I'd go watch bloody rugby union (or as a mate of mine refers to it "kick and clap"), the most boring game of all!

 

[Canard]

Two point FG will mean a higher % of games are in the balance.

That's a good thing

 

[Glenn]

The lessening of scrums seems to go against what they brought in last year with choosing where to pack the scrum, which lead to more set plays as a result.

 

[BadnMean]

So a play the ball restart when the ball is kicked into touch? Geez they really want to take all game management out of the game don't they. We're definitely getting into territory of losing the feel of what rugby league is with all this tinkering year after year. They won't be happy until the final 10 minutes of every game is a field goal shoot out from 50 metres to try and break a 58-all deadlock.

Remember Super League? 42-30 every week. There's a reason they went away from it.

 

[BadnMean]

The lessening of scrums seems to go against what they brought in last year with choosing where to pack the scrum, which lead to more set plays as a result.

And why bother spending so much effort tweaking the scrum rules AGAIN (with the ref calling break & full not differential penalties) if you then remove 75% of scrums from the game with another rule you bring in?

Design by committee at its worst.

 

[AJB1102]

The 2 point field goals is going to make coaches try and poach union kickers now. They slot them from 50. The english/south Africans will be raided it's how half of their points are scored in Union. Next will be 3 point penalty kicks from outside the 40.

lol bit hysterical. No ones raiding union for drop-goal experts. Teams regularly pass up 2 points throughout a game inside 40 with a placed kick and no risk of a 7 tackle restart.

The only time this rule change will be mentioned is when the NRL wanna show they listen to the punters.

 

[Timmah]

Two point FG will mean a higher % of games are in the balance.

That's a good thing

Beyond 40m? Nope

 

[Mr Angry]

No offence mate, but how long do some of the video refs take in reviewing a try? We see them going over, and over, AND OVER the same footage so many times when the rest of us watching at home, let alone blind Freddy can tell its is a try or no try. Considering there is a shot clock on kicks at goal, what happens if the kicker is read to go but the Video Ref is still reviewing? What happens if the shot clock expires due to the Video Ref?

Sorry but its just stupid. Its this expectation that humans can be 100% perfect and always get things right. Experience has shown, especially with the NRL Video Review, that this is not the case and never has been. To expect that this change will make all decisions 100% correct from now on is just too dumb to quantify.

On one other rule change, the giving of a full penalty for teams that break from a scrum early instead of a differential penalty. Really, we need to wind back the clock on that too to the early 1970s before the differential penalty came in when if the defending team conceded a scrum penalty within goal kicking range, the attacking team would kick for goal? That is the reason the differential penalty was introduced to encourage teams to run the ball instead of stopping for a penalty shot at goal. All the NRL needed to do was get the referee to enforce what was already in the rule book, instead of just ignoring it, let alone bring back this retrograde piece of garbage.

If I want to be bored to tears and watch umpteen attempted field goals and penalty goal per match, I'd go watch bloody rugby union (or as a mate of mine refers to it "kick and clap"), the most boring game of all!

Just let Fox viewers press the red button or a vote on NRL.com live! You have 60 seconds!

 

[T-Boon]

lol bit hysterical. No ones raiding union for drop-goal experts. Teams regularly pass up 2 points throughout a game inside 40 with a placed kick and no risk of a 7 tackle restart.

that is because they have 6 tackles in front of them. A field goal attempt will be as sensible as a bomb in this case - except there is the chance of a 7 tackle set from a well struck but wide shot.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

2 point field goal is stupid.

What's next?

5 point tries encase a team is down by 7?

3 point conversions encase a team is down by 7? 8 if we add it to our situational 5 point try.

1 point every time a ball gets knocked dead by the defending team because the dastardly f**kers took it out of play and cost us some fantabulous field goal kicking play time?

 

[Willow]

When the board were deciding on the 40m 2 point field goal, how many times did they mention basketball?

 

[AJB1102]

that is because they have 6 tackles in front of them. A field goal attempt will be as sensible as a bomb in this case - except there is the chance of a 7 tackle set from a well struck but wide shot.

Most sets end inside opposition 40 - even more with increased 6 agains. So your hail Mary 2 point crack will have to be early in the count and there's far greater chance you get it charged down, hand over possession in the middle rather than in a corner or give away a 7 tackle restart. Its a very high risk/low reward play and we both know your mates in the coaches box hate high risk plays.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Remember Super League? 42-30 every week. There's a reason they went away from it.

Yep cause it was trashs "touch football" style. Even the players who played in SL in 1997 admitted that the rules the ARL were using in 1997 were much more conducive to quality games than what they used in Stupor League.

 

[AJB1102]

"You need look no further than the 2 point field goal from beyond 40 rule to see we listen to the fans."

We'll hear some version of that a few times from the NRL and thats all its for. Giving themselves a little ace up the sleeve without actually doing anything that'll impact the game.

 

[The_Frog]

Remember Super League? 42-30 every week. There's a reason they went away from it.

In the entire 1997 Super League competition there was one game from 96 played with a losing score of 30 or more. That was the 48-36 Bulldogs-Hunter match. The average score of 21.32 was less than half a point more than this year's average of 20.88. 42 points was reached 8 times in 96 games, or once every 12 games in Super League, compared to 23 times this year from 169 games, once every 7.3 games.

They went away from it because the game was being torn to shreds and it was in the interests of all that a solution was found.