Peter V'landys - New NRL/ARLC Chairman

[Barney Stubble]

Yeh but it’s gone too far the other way

Someone posted on Twitter nrl is like basketball I thought it was a great comment

more importantly
its easily fixed

The 6 again has a place in the game , without doubt ... it removes the cynical slowing down of games so less skilful & fit sides & players can compete. But we have over done it , referees are too hyper sensitive in awarding them & that may well be because the word has come down from higher up , they just need to go back to awarding them if it was a penalty prior to set restarts being introduced.

 

[T-Boon]

Of course you want good attack but a low scoring contest is the best outcome.

All my favourite football games were 3-4 tries max. They had excellent attacking football as well however the defence stood up everytime with amazing scramble. Good defence doesn't nescesarily create a dour contest.

I think this season will show you via big ratings and crowds that you are in the minority.
We want more tries provided they are based on passing and line breaks rather than bombs. With defense (wrestling) dominating via slow rucks far too many games were decided by bombs and decoys, and also that same sort of backline move with a flashy wingers jump at the end.

I would be all for the PVL proposed kick off rule which would be reducing fatigue a bit and also introducing more work for coaches on game day.

 

[Barney Stubble]

it was 46 in the first 9 games last year & no one was carrying on

 

[Fangs]

I think this season will show you via big ratings and crowds that you are in the minority.
We want more tries provided they are based on passing and line breaks rather than bombs. With defense (wrestling) dominating via slow rucks far too many games were decided by bombs and decoys, and also that same sort of backline move with a flashy wingers jump at the end.

I would be all for the PVL proposed kick off rule which would be reducing fatigue a bit and also introducing more work for coaches on game day.

Herculean defence against great attack is where its at. I think you'll find the majority agree on that and thats where I'm coming from. I'm not advocating for dour defensive matches with slow rucks.

You are focusing too much on the wrestle. Its only one aspect of defence. What about scramble on the goal line or an amazing cover tackle like Darren Albert in 97? Or Sattler in 03?

 

[Wb1234]

more importantly
its easily fixed

The 6 again has a place in the game , without doubt ... it removes the cynical slowing down of games so less skilful & fit sides & players can compete. But we have over done it , referees are too hyper sensitive in awarding them & that may well be because the word has come down from higher up , they just need to go back to awarding them if it was a penalty prior to set restarts being introduced.

Worse thing is they only penalise/six again one team and it dictates the flow of play for ages

Either be consistent and nit pick both or let both go

If something is trivial let it go

Let the game flow

 

[T-Boon]

Last night there were all those tries and I don't think one of them was from a bomb. Very nice.
I would like to see a stat on how many more passes are being thrown this year and the last few years versus the wrestlemania years.

 

[T-Boon]

Worse thing is they only penalise/six again one team and it dictates the flow of play for ages

Either be consistent and nit pick both or let both go

If something is trivial let it go

Let the game flow

Do you watch replays of a game with a focus on rucks to see if this is accurate or just speculation on your part?

 

[T-Boon]

Herculean defence against great attack is where its at. I think you'll find the majority agree on that and thats where I'm coming from. I'm not advocating for dour defensive matches with slow rucks.

You are focusing too much on the wrestle. Its only one aspect of defence. What about scramble on the goal line or an amazing cover tackle like Darren Albert in 97? Or Sattler in 03?

You only get those great covering tackles when attack is capable of making line breaks from their own half for example - via ball movement. That isn't the case when defending is too easy (this is what the conversation is about because in previous years defense has been too easy and attack too reliant on bombs). Ideally, with more passing and line break threats, coaches will decide they want to defend with a "sweeper" like what use to be a thing.
We will also hopefully stop hearing "we spend way more time practicing our defense than out attack" which I've heard from most clubs for years.
Those short dropouts last year were a sign defenses had contempt for attack (rightly so) even on the try line.

 

[Wb1234]

Do you watch replays of a game with a focus on rucks to see if this is accurate or just speculation on your part?

Last nights game broncos were getting penalties and six agains and there was at least one clear six again for eels which wasn’t given

Broncos looked like world beaters with all that possession and then lost

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Last night there were all those tries and I don't think one of them was from a bomb. Very nice.
I would like to see a stat on how many more passes are being thrown this year and the last few years versus the wrestlemania years.

It was a terrible match. Barely watchable at times. That is not Rugby League.
I'd say out of the 9 matches so far this season only 3-4 have been to a decent standard.

 

[i0Nic]

New renderings of the new Hawaii Aloha stadium due to be completed August 2029. I think this would be an amazing candidate if we want to move on from Vegas or add to a global round. 31k capacity. Perfect for a single game or double header - we can fill it.

Or imagine playing Tonga Vs Samoa here

 

[siv]

it was 46 in the first 9 games last year & no one was carrying on

So 13% increase

 

[T-Boon]

It was a terrible match. Barely watchable at times. That is not Rugby League.
I'd say out of the 9 matches so far this season only 3-4 have been to a decent standard.

Have a look at the ratings for the game. Massive.
Some crusty old WrestleMania fans may be upset about attack being on top but they can always go watch rugby.

 

[Barney Stubble]

So 13% increase

yep

miniscule

 

[kurt faulk]

Have a look at the ratings for the game. Massive.
Some crusty old WrestleMania fans may be upset about attack being on top but they can always go watch rugby.

It's like they're allergic to tries being scored.

They must yearn for the mid 80s days.

.

 

[Captain Apollo]

You want to see good attack and good defence. Having attack only makes the game look unskilled and cheaper. It's not touch football.

If you want a sport with an extreme example of where defence became a joke, go and look at the 2025 NBA All-Star Game. The players played zero defence, and it was one of the most mocked NBA games ever played. Nobody who watched it thought it was great. It was garbage. In fact even the NBA itself thought it was so bad, they changed the entire All-Star game format because of it. I don't want to see rugby league go down that path.

I mean do people think all the blowout scorelines in Round 1 were "great" games to watch? The few that were close were more due to skill issues with the respective squads (e.g. Dragons and Bulldogs) than great attack and/or defence.

 

[Perth Red]

Games reputation is built on toughness largely displayed in defence. Like watching nines these days.
Ive always considered a scoreline of around 22-18 as the ideal game showcasing attack and defence.

 

[mave]

Must be a lot of T20 fans here.

Scoreboard goes brrrrrr

 

[Jetka100]

I wouldn’t be too concerned at this stage. It is not just players getting used to the new season, it is the referees as well. The good ones will get a feel for how the game needs to be played and adjudicated and I am sure very pedantic 6 agains will start to ease off. The same things used to happen when it was just penalties. The head high crackdown was going to ruin NRL a few seasons ago. Pretty sure it hasn’t and adjustments were made to stop players and coaches playing for penalties and referees also adjusted.

 

[T-Boon]

You want to see good attack and good defence.

We can agree on that.
But low scoring games should not be based on wrestling, parking the bus (broadly speaking it is "parking the bus" when teams say they spend 75% of their time practicing wrestling/defense), conservative play. It should be based on big gutsy memorable passing plays and defense trying to stop that. We are more likely to get that with offense on top and defense having to work it out.
The enemy needs to be hearing players say we spend 65-75% of our training time working on defense (wrestling). We should cringe as fans of the sport when we hear that.