The move to do away with the ‘unlimited’ tackle rule that had been played in Australia for 59 seasons was the brainchild of the urbane secretary of the Rugby Football League in England,…
pythagonrl.com
I think this is a pretty well balanced article and worth reading. Even for people who support the current situation
Essentially the game has removed a lot of tools weaker teams could use to help them. Let's focus on two of them. Firstly penalty goals. Yes, penalty goals are hardly exciting but they gave a weaker team the chance at points without having to go through a better teams defensive line and they would get the ball back from the kick off giving them possession.
Secondly the removal of offside as a penalty. Here is where I think the problem largely falls. Good teams (especially the storm) fly off the defensive line like maniacs. Offside or onside it doesn't really matter as long as
A) it's early in the tackle count
B) it's in the oppositions half but especially 20m
C) good contact is made
Now in the pre 2021 days if a team did that they would give away a penalty and the poor team being suffocated could take a breather and kick for field possession. Now they get a set restart (this might be on tackle 1 and 5m out from your own goal line)
I don't think it's a coincidence that the top teams are keeping their opponents in their own end in numbers not seen before.
Now so far so what but the nrl is still in the entertainment business and games are getting blown out earlier
What is in this for the viewer