MATTY Johns has called on the NRL to consider a “back to the future” approach to make rugby league a safer sport — calling for the abolishment of the interchange as we know it. Speaking on his Triple M program yesterday, Johns said it was time to get rid of the 10-man interchange — and while each team should still be allowed six replacements, once a player left the field he should not be allowed to return.
And Johns’ left field plan had the backing of Gorden Tallis who believes the end result would be old school workhorses like Bradley Clyde and Martin Bella would become modern day heroes.
Player safety has been at the forefront of debate in the wake of the terrible injury to Alex McKinnon in a dangerous lifting tackle.
While Melbourne football manager Frank Ponissi yesterday admitted the Storm were still weighing up whether to appeal Jordan McLean’s seven-match suspension, Johns said the way forward for the game was to go back.
He said if players were not as big the collisions would not be as dangerous.
“The average weight of an NRL player at the moment is 108kg. In the mid 1990s it was about 94-95kg,” Johns said.
“I think it is time to reduce the interchange again.
“If you know the moment you leave the field you can’t get back on you will see far less of the gang tackle, people just running in and just joining four and five man tackles.
“People will be conserving energy and the moment fatigue starts to come into the game the game starts to loosen up and the impact is far less.”
The unlimited interchange was introduced in 1991 and while the amount of changes allowed has differed over the years, the there is no question 80 minute workhorses like Bella and Clyde have been overrun in the land of the modern day giants.
Tallis added: “I said it years ago. Someone like Martin Bella, he changed the game, him and Bradley Clyde.
“And then they brought in the unlimited interchange and those guys started to come back to the field.
“But it was only because we couldn’t match them.
“And Martin Bella was so far ahead as a forward.
“And then they brought in the unlimited interchange and you were playing against blokes with less ability that came on for five minutes and were a hero _ and you are playing for 80 minutes.”
The NRL rules committee will meet next month to discuss possible rule changes with many believing the game has to find a way to get rid of all lifting tackles and perhaps look at rubbing out three-man tackles.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson is part of that rules committee.
Asked for his thoughts on Johns’ idea yesterday, Robinson said: “I think you could bring it down, I don’t think there is a problem of going to eight.
“But I think a thing that we like in our game is the power in our game.
“We want blokes that have got endurance but we also want guys that have got some power.
“If we bring it down we will start getting a lot more second rowers playing front row, and we will just start getting back to really similar body shapes.
“Since we have reduced the interchange from unlimited to 12 to 10 we have seen the really big guys go down and now we are seeing guys adapt a bit better.”
Asked if he had come up with any idea of how to try and prevent dangerous tackles like what led to McKinnon’s injury, Robinson said: “I think we all took a fair hit last week and it has made me think a hell of a lot about our game.
“I am not sure whether my opinions are right.
“I don’t think the three man tackle will go out of the game. I definitely think we need to police the three-man tackle definitely in the lifting case better.
“We changed the rule from last year to this year to protect some syndesmosis and some knee injuries and it probably hasn’t worked in our favour.
“I think we have probably seen a few more lifting tackles and penalties this year because of that.
“Now it looks like last year’s rule wasn’t as bad as we think and we just have to contain the lifting of the leg and the diving in at the legs.
“I think we meet in a month and I would like to be ready for that.”
