Peter V'landys - New NRL/ARLC Chairman

[Wb1234]

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

They must yearn for the mid 80s days.

.

Skilful tries yeh

Tries used to be earned

We are turning into nba

 

[Gobsmacked]

Skilful tries yeh

Tries used to be earned

We are turning into nba

More skill in the game then ever. Arm wrestle games are great when they're big games but weekly NRL games are better when there's trys, especially for neutrals.

 

[kurt faulk]

NBA All-Star Game

What? An all star game? Is this a joke.

This was just a case of two awful teams playing each other. You can't blame the rules when each team scores at will when they get inside the 20.

Saints have been letting teams score when they get inside their 20 for more than a decade. I don't blame the rules because they're shit and have no heart.

.

 

[Colk]

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.

Great post. We changed the rules after 2021 for this exact same reason. The game became a farce

 

[kurt faulk]

.

Did the rules ruin the storm saints game or was it a case of the saints being utterly useless after the 60th minute?

.

 

[Gobsmacked]

Great post. We changed the rules after 2021 for this exact same reason. The game became a farce

Wouldn't happen to be from the north of England would ya ?

 

[Captain Apollo]

What? An all star game? Is this a joke.

This was just a case of two awful teams playing each other. You can't blame the rules when each team scores at will when they get inside the 20.

Saints have been letting teams score when they get inside their 20 for more than a decade. I don't blame the rules because they're shit and have no heart.

.

Go back to the 1990s and early 2000s, the NBA All-Star game players played some defence, just not high intensity defdence. Last year's all star game basically turned into a layup line, zero defence was played at all. The media, fams and even the NBA administration gave it a bad rap.

 

[Colk]

Wouldn't happen to be from the north of England would ya ?

No I’m not actually. Interesting comment to make.

 

[Maximus]

No I’m not actually. Interesting comment to make.

The cultists are getting upset that people dare criticise their messiah.

 

[Colk]

The cultists are getting upset that people dare criticise their messiah.

It wasn’t even that strong of a criticism. I prefaced my criticism by saying that he has done some good things but going back to more set restarts/6 agains after we had evidence from 2020-2021 of what a litany of set restarts/6 agains had done to the game is insane.

We already know what will happen and to do the same thing twice and expect a different result is the definition of insanity. There will be another call to reduce the number of set restarts and we will go to the back to the rules we had last year or similar.

 

[Steel Saints]

Just go back to the 6 again rule from last year. Do it from next week. Pretty simple really.

 

[Fangs]

Lets be honest. The footy hasn't been great to start 2026.

Outside of Penrith which clubs are keeping up with the pace of the game? You can't have a one horse race no one likes that.

 

[T-Boon]

Skilful tries yeh

Tries used to be earned

We are turning into nba

You call hoisting a bomb "earned"?

We wish we were turning into the NBA.

 

[T-Boon]

Just go back to the 6 again rule from last year. Do it from next week. Pretty simple really.

Is it not the same rule?

 

[i0Nic]

We’re seeing a clear trend that in the last 20 minutes of the game many teams are completely gassed and cannot keep up. The pace of the game is too fast. There are practically no penalties anymore just six agains. The fix is easy, go back to last years six again rule where they only apply outside the 40m zone. It was the best balance, this has gone too far.

Not only does this rule make the pace super quick it gives all the momentum to the attacking team and so it’s easy for blowouts to happen which is the exact thing the nrl is trying to avoid.

 

[i0Nic]

Is it not the same rule?

No the 6 again this year covers way more of the ground not just the 20m like last year but 40m.

 

[T-Boon]

More skill in the game then ever. Arm wrestle games are great when they're big games but weekly NRL games are better when there's trys, especially for neutrals.

100%.
This is why ratings are going to be through the roof this season. Good defense (ie gang tackles, wrestling and keeping a disciplined line) is great for the fans of that particular team - you are proud of your team which overrides the boredom of the game you are watching. But the neutral sports fan always wants to see good ball movement/attack.

Highlights packages always just show good attack (or good cover defense) because nobody really watches for defense (wrestle/parked bus D).

Are we seeing a massive decrease in short dropouts? Tries from bombs?

They were a sure sign that attack was crap and defense too far on top.

 

[T-Boon]

We’re seeing a clear trend that in the last 20 minutes of the game many teams are completely gassed and cannot keep up. The pace of the game is too fast. There are practically no penalties anymore just six agains. The fix is easy, go back to last years six again rule where they only apply outside the 40m zone. It was the best balance, this has gone too far.

Defenses are still trying to get 4 men into as many tackles as possible - even when they arent actually needed in the tackle. This needs to stop.
The teams that go back to having 2 men in the tackle should start dominating.

What we should do is bring in PVLs kick off rule.

 

[Wb1234]

You call hoisting a bomb "earned"?

We wish we were turning into the NBA.

Nope but you can’t stop tries off kicks or make them worth less

Games just too fast they’ve got the balance wrong and teams have struggled to adapt it will sort out In a few weeks

Ideally no more than 40 points a game (my pretence is 30) and no more than 10 to 15 or less total penalties or set restarts

 

[Colk]

100%.
This is why ratings are going to be through the roof this season. Good defense (ie gang tackles, wrestling and keeping a disciplined line) is great for the fans of that particular team - you are proud of your team which overrides the boredom of the game you are watching. But the neutral sports fan always wants to see good ball movement/attack.

Highlights packages always just show good attack (or good cover defense) because nobody really watches for defense (wrestle/parked bus D).

Are we seeing a massive decrease in short dropouts? Tries from bombs?

They were a sure sign that attack was crap and defense too far on top.

What ball movement are you referring to? The game throughout the six again s*** has been about fitness and power through the middle. Most tries you are seeing are not through great backline plays but a bloke running over the top or through missed tackles because the weight of possession has rendered those forwards completely gassed.

There is less ball movement not more