Question on Peter V'landys

[taste2taste]

They introduced rules which resulted in a dramatic change in the way the game was played. Instead of accepting that their changes influenced the game negatively I.E resulted in a higher frequency of head contact, they shifted the goal posts to make the fans, players and RLPA look like we're all uneducated fools and they know what's best because "data" says so.

It's utter bullshit.

The rules changes were brought in for 2 reasons.
1) in the annual fans poll the overwhelming majority voted they wanted wrestling out of the game and wanted the game to be more open ( more offloads, line breaks, tries etc )
2) Fairfax reported that CH 9 ( who we all know run the game ) wanted the game more entertaining. No one was watching hit up, wrestle x 6, kick, repeat.

The NRL went over board at the start of this season removing scrums from kicks into touch ( and another rule I can't remember ) I've heard Hunt, Gutherson and Welsh complain the game is now too fast. If the NRL took these rules back and reintroduced scrums from kicks and maybe extend the shot clock to 45 seconds it would be a good outcome.

In regards to the high shots crack down, is it a coincidence it started just as a report came out about concussion in league and also as James McManus starts legal action for his concussions ? If McManus wins more players will come forward and it could be the end of the game.
With all we know about repeated head knocks the NRL is the last contact sport in the world to be dragged into the 21st century....Even WWE has banned head contact, a fake sport is taking it more seriously than us

 

[souths_reborn]

Do people think its Vlandys making all the decisions and the other commissioners haven't been consulted ? As CEO Abdo would have the final say wouldn't he ?

I've always been of the opinion Vlandys is the mouthpiece for all Commissioners, I don't think I've ever seen any of the others talk to the press ? ( edit: I saw Wayne Pearce on TV a while back )

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the rules committee who signed off on these changes includes Luke Keary, Trent Robinson, Craig Bellamy, Ricky Stuart and Damian Cook ?

I don't understand the discussions on this thread about having to reinvent the wheel regarding tackling. Can't we continue as normal without hitting players in the head ? Last weekend showed it can be done.

Side note, anyone see Gus Goulds meltdown in twitter today ? He was defending his prehistoric views regarding concussion and getting hammered for it

Most definitely! This is what is causing all this animosity between the players and the NRL. V'landys has a reputation for acting impulsively and irrationally not just in NRL circles but also in racing. With specific regard to the sin bin/send off initiative, this was not a rule change; V'landys instructed the referees boss to enforce this for all high shots. Remember, the referees boss reports directly to Peter V'landys. In actual fact, V'landys has come out and admitted that he didn't consult anyone before the edict was implemented, remarking that "you don't need to consult when safety is involved."

With regard to other initiatives, this is where things start getting murky. The players feel that they have not been adequately. Andrew Webster wrote a piece outlining this today where he basically implies that this Rules Committee was just a tokenistic gesture by the NRL to make players feel involved without allowing them to have any definitive input. Elsewhere, the constant rule changes to increase the speed of the game have been cited as a key factor that has attracted the ire of the players towards V'landys. James Graham articulated a very valid point on NRL 360 where the players were simply told that the game would be resuming last year after the Covid break without any consultation over safety concerns or remuneration for New Zealand players having to stay in Australia etc. Hence, when you look at things holistically there are too many examples from too many players, both past and present, which suggest that V'landys is doing everything BUT consulting.

In short, Peter V'landys has a massive issues with being dictatorial. I would even go so far as to say he has a superiority complex where he feels that he knows best in all matter relating to rugby league despite never having played the game. I have also never bought into this nonsense that he "saved the game" - that is News Ltd rhetoric aimed at protecting the man who lined their pockets last year with the new tv deal.

 

[souths_reborn]

The rules changes were brought in for 2 reasons.
1) in the annual fans poll the overwhelming majority voted they wanted wrestling out of the game and wanted the game to be more open ( more offloads, line breaks, tries etc )
2) Fairfax reported that CH 9 ( who we all know run the game ) wanted the game more entertaining. No one was watching hit up, wrestle x 6, kick, repeat.

The NRL went over board at the start of this season removing scrums from kicks into touch ( and another rule I can't remember ) I've heard Hunt, Gutherson and Welsh complain the game is now too fast. If the NRL took these rules back and reintroduced scrums from kicks and maybe extend the shot clock to 45 seconds it would be a good outcome.

In regards to the high shots crack down, is it a coincidence it started just as a report came out about concussion in league and also as James McManus starts legal action for his concussions ? If McManus wins more players will come forward and it could be the end of the game.
With all we know about repeated head knocks the NRL is the last contact sport in the world to be dragged into the 21st century....Even WWE has banned head contact, a fake sport is taking it more seriously than us

Where did you see the part about fans wanting the wrestle out of the game? I had a look at the fans poll on the NRL website and I couldn't find anything on there about it. With that being said, I do agree that the NRL went overboard - the game can only be made so fast. In any case, I know a lot of NRL fans are bogans who have short attention spans and the IQ of a cucumber but if you can't concentrate on a game of modern NRL for 80 minutes then there is something seriously wrong with you. Perhaps you are on the spectrum or something.

The headshot thing and concussion has been around for ages ever since litigation kick off against the NFL in the USA. If you look across various sports, every one is doing the best they can to protect athletes and participants against the effects of concussion. However, there are some sports where the risk is so inherent that no amount of rules can safeguard against instances occurring. Unfortunately, rugby league is one of those sports. What we need to do is to cease with this notion that rugby league is for everyone; its not and nor should it be conveyed as a safe and family-friendly sport. It is a highly physical game where you stand a serious chance of getting injured. I'm not just talking about concussions but other injuries, such as broken bones, high grade muscle tears, dislocations etc.

 

[The Great Dane]

2) Fairfax reported that CH 9 ( who we all know run the game ) wanted the game more entertaining. No one was watching hit up, wrestle x 6, kick, repeat.

It's pretty ironic that their changes to make the game more entertaining have made it more boring and predictable then it's ever been.

Aside from probably the SL war, I can't remember a time when more people have started slowly tuning out of the sport in my life, and despite the propaganda, in my experience most of them are switching to stuff like the UFC, NFL, or NBA if they are younger, and not the AFL, which IMO is indicative of a lot of the issues the NRL, and Australian culture in general, is facing.

Hell, for the first time in my life I've watched more NHL and NFL games respectively in the last year than I have RL, and I can't see that pattern changing unless there're massive changes to the rules and how they are enforced, and the general staleness of the NRL as a whole...

In regards to the high shots crack down, is it a coincidence it started just as a report came out about concussion in league and also as James McManus starts legal action for his concussions ? If McManus wins more players will come forward and it could be the end of the game.
With all we know about repeated head knocks the NRL is the last contact sport in the world to be dragged into the 21st century....Even WWE has banned head contact, a fake sport is taking it more seriously than us

Contact to the head has been illegal in RL for a lifetime, and the current crackdown will have little to no impact on the rate of concussions or CTE in the sport.

The only reason they are doing it is to give the perception that they are doing something, and even in doing that they have f**ked it up by over extending themselves and not enforcing the punishment equally.

Whether they realise it or not, they are building the precedent in public perception that unavoidable accidents, an inherent risk of playing the game, are actually foul play. Once that becomes the perception the sport is in a very bad place where it will be forced to either accept the risk or make changes that can only conclude with becoming a non-contact sport given time. Either way it will have massive effects on the sport that could have been better managed if the NRL didn't react to the problem in a sensationalist and knee-jerk way.

 

[taste2taste]

Where did you see the part about fans wanting the wrestle out of the game? I had a look at the fans poll on the NRL website and I couldn't find anything on there about it. With that being said, I do agree that the NRL went overboard - the game can only be made so fast. In any case, I know a lot of NRL fans are bogans who have short attention spans and the IQ of a cucumber but if you can't concentrate on a game of modern NRL for 80 minutes then there is something seriously wrong with you. Perhaps you are on the spectrum or something.

The headshot thing and concussion has been around for ages ever since litigation kick off against the NFL in the USA. If you look across various sports, every one is doing the best they can to protect athletes and participants against the effects of concussion. However, there are some sports where the risk is so inherent that no amount of rules can safeguard against instances occurring. Unfortunately, rugby league is one of those sports. What we need to do is to cease with this notion that rugby league is for everyone; its not and nor should it be conveyed as a safe and family-friendly sport. It is a highly physical game where you stand a serious chance of getting injured. I'm not just talking about concussions but other injuries, such as broken bones, high grade muscle tears, dislocations etc.

The poll would have been done after thr 2019 season, heading into the 2020 season when the rules were changed.

One thing this proves is league fans are never happy the games too slow and predictable we want it faster , the game becomes faster and the fans want it how it was

It would he easy to undo the rule changes, bring back kicks for touch for penalties and loose the scrum/drop out shot clock.

Without fatigue there will be a lot of 12-8 score lines and 5 hit ups and a kick style of play and no one wants to watch that.

The TV ratings suggest that viewers are enjoying the style of play but not liking the blow outs, the fact that foxs ratings are up on previous years is very encouraging. If the NRL and the rules committee can make a few minor changes to keep the games open and the scores closer it should result in very healthy ratings.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Do people think its Vlandys making all the decisions and the other commissioners haven't been consulted ? As CEO Abdo would have the final say wouldn't he ?

On that point, the answer is no. The ARLC Commissioners are like a Board of Directors of any company, they set the company policy and direction. The CEO answers to the board and implements its decisions. It is the board who can hire and fire the CEO.

 

[Tweed Titan]

Most definitely! This is what is causing all this animosity between the players and the NRL. V'landys has a reputation for acting impulsively and irrationally not just in NRL circles but also in racing. With specific regard to the sin bin/send off initiative, this was not a rule change; V'landys instructed the referees boss to enforce this for all high shots. Remember, the referees boss reports directly to Peter V'landys. In actual fact, V'landys has come out and admitted that he didn't consult anyone before the edict was implemented, remarking that "you don't need to consult when safety is involved."

With regard to other initiatives, this is where things start getting murky. The players feel that they have not been adequately. Andrew Webster wrote a piece outlining this today where he basically implies that this Rules Committee was just a tokenistic gesture by the NRL to make players feel involved without allowing them to have any definitive input. Elsewhere, the constant rule changes to increase the speed of the game have been cited as a key factor that has attracted the ire of the players towards V'landys. James Graham articulated a very valid point on NRL 360 where the players were simply told that the game would be resuming last year after the Covid break without any consultation over safety concerns or remuneration for New Zealand players having to stay in Australia etc. Hence, when you look at things holistically there are too many examples from too many players, both past and present, which suggest that V'landys is doing everything BUT consulting.

In short, Peter V'landys has a massive issues with being dictatorial. I would even go so far as to say he has a superiority complex where he feels that he knows best in all matter relating to rugby league despite never having played the game. I have also never bought into this nonsense that he "saved the game" - that is News Ltd rhetoric aimed at protecting the man who lined their pockets last year with the new tv deal.

You just hit the nail on the head. PVL bent over big time to the broadcasters and now they praise him unashamedly for anything he does. The bloke is as arrogant as they come and he thinks he's untouchable.

He's a snake oil salesman. My son goes to primary school on the Gold Coast and is there any school rugby league activities? No but he can play AFL Auskick! On the Gold Coast!!!

What a disgrace his efforts in getting schools and kids involved have been and barely any journalist will ever say a bad word about or criticise him. It's almost like they are being silenced by their employers....

 

[Captain Apollo]

You just hit the nail on the head. PVL bent over big time to the broadcasters and now they praise him unashamedly for anything he does. The bloke is as arrogant as they come and he thinks he's untouchable.

He's a snake oil salesman. My son goes to primary school on the Gold Coast and is there any school rugby league activities? No but he can play AFL Auskick! On the Gold Coast!!!

What a disgrace his efforts in getting schools and kids involved have been and barely any journalist will ever say a bad word about or criticise him. It's almost like they are being silenced by their employers....

Oh yes, because the Chair of the ARLC organises school sports

 

[Perth Red]

Oh yes, because the Chair of the ARLC organises school sports

He's been part of the commission that has set strategy and areas for expenditure since 2017. If its not the commissions job to ensure grassroots is flourishing and schools in RL areas are getting exposure then whose is it?

I mean he has the gaul to come out and say Jnrs are dying, then put the blame on the top tier professionals making the occasional head high contact as being the problem whilst schools like the kids are only getting participation opportunities from AFL!!

 

[Tweed Titan]

Oh yes, because the Chair of the ARLC organises school sports

You don't think the chair of the ARLC should have major input on grassroots expenditure?

 

[The Great Dane]

Another thing about the V'landys era that is interesting to me at least, is that, as person from outside of Sydney, it feels like all the focus has been forced back onto Sydney, and to a lesser extent Brisbane, again.

The NRL has always been way too Sydney-centric, but under him it feels like the bad old days in the 80s and early 90s when the 'non-Sydney clubs' were to be seen, not heard, and were treated like second class citizens.

It's fascinating, because the last time that happened it was a major contributing factor in the SL war...

 

[Danish]

Well PVL is swinging his dick about the crackdown extending into origin games.

I give it a month for this current situation to break, ending either in his removal or his accepting of terms to remove this garbage directive.

the best thing PVL may actually achieve is forcing the RLPA to actually act like a representative of the players

 

[souths_reborn]

Another thing about the V'landys era that is interesting to me at least, is that, as person from outside of Sydney, it feels like all the focus has been forced back onto Sydney, and to a lesser extent Brisbane, again.

The NRL has always been way too Sydney-centric, but under him it feels like the bad old days in the 80s and early 90s when the 'non-Sydney clubs' were to be seen, not heard, and were treated like second class citizens.

It's fascinating, because the last time that happened it was a major contributing factor in the SL war...

That is probably because V'landys likes to suck up to all of the NRL powerbrokers - many of which are based in Sydney. If you look at his attitude towards expansion he views having a second Brisbane-based team as his way of "growing" the game. If he has this attitude then he is indirectly implying the Sydney is the heart rugby league. As has been pointed out before, having a second Brisbane team is merely consolidating the game as opposed to expanding it.

 

[Captain Apollo]

You don't think the chair of the ARLC should have major input on grassroots expenditure?

Firstly due to the revenue problems the NRL encountered last year due to COVID they had to sack quite a few people, and unfortunately the development staff area was hard hit.

Secondly the grassroots expenditure is spent by the NRL clubs and the state leagues.

 

[Perth Red]

Firstly due to the revenue problems the NRL encountered last year due to COVID they had to sack quite a few people, and unfortunately the development staff area was hard hit.

Secondly the grassroots expenditure is spent by the NRL clubs and the state leagues.

which Greenberg started to change by bringing all the development officers under NRLHQ and introducing the League Stars program which was supposed to be our version of Auskick. No idea if its still going or if they have continued to grow it? most of the so called grassroots expenditure is in fact going to NRL club elite pathways not to genuine local amateur clubs. The NSW cup and Qlnd cup get a large % of so called grass roots investment.
Last year the NRL cut $33million (around 35%) funding to grassroots, be interesting to see this year how much they have put of that back in.

NRL needs to go back to the Smith era and reintroduce some transparency about what's going on. Every state body should have to produce an annual report for starters. The NRL annual report should show registered players by age group, gender and state AND participation numbers of non registered players and touch registrations by state. Its hard to have much faith in the sound bites of Vlandys and Abdo when they continue to hide the facts.

 

[TheRam]

not if the same customers now shop in both shops rather than new customers coming along.

And how do you know that new customer aren't going to come along who don't like the flavour of what's on offer in the current shop?

 

[League Unlimited News]

ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys acknowledged there should have been more consultation with players before the introduction of the NRL’s crackdown on high contact.

In an interview on Friday on SEN Radio, V’landys said it had been a "mistake" not to discuss the changes with the players before this year’s Magic Round.


V’landys said the ARLC had no intention of being disrespectful to the players and the rule interpretation was only changed to protect the health of the playing group.

"Hindsight’s a great tool, you can do everything in your life better," V’landys told host Andrew Voss on SEN 1170 Breakfast.

"I make mistakes every day and I’d love to get my chance again to reverse them. In this instance, yes, we could have done things better.

"We should’ve probably consulted the players more rightly.

"The irony of the situation is, we respect the players so much that we took the hard call to protect them."

'We should have consulted players': V'landys on high-tackle crackdown

ARLC chairman Peter V’landys acknowledged there should have been more consultation with the players before the introduction of the NRL’s crackdown on high contact.

www.nrl.com

 

[Mr Spock!]

which Greenberg started to change by bringing all the development officers under NRLHQ and introducing the League Stars program which was supposed to be our version of Auskick. No idea if its still going or if they have continued to grow it? most of the so called grassroots expenditure is in fact going to NRL club elite pathways not to genuine local amateur clubs. The NSW cup and Qlnd cup get a large % of so called grass roots investment.
Last year the NRL cut $33million (around 35%) funding to grassroots, be interesting to see this year how much they have put of that back in.

NRL needs to go back to the Smith era and reintroduce some transparency about what's going on. Every state body should have to produce an annual report for starters. The NRL annual report should show registered players by age group, gender and state AND participation numbers of non registered players and touch registrations by state. Its hard to have much faith in the sound bites of Vlandys and Abdo when they continue to hide the facts.

This is the first time I've heard of it and I'm in a League stronghold town and I've coached school league for the past 5 years.

The kids don't get any support at all. My new school doesn't even have jerseys to field a team.

I've seen a QRL development officer once at a game where he handed out a bag to the player of the match.

Auskick though is everywhere.

 

[Jamberoo]

which Greenberg started to change by bringing all the development officers under NRLHQ and introducing the League Stars program which was supposed to be our version of Auskick. No idea if its still going or if they have continued to grow it? most of the so called grassroots expenditure is in fact going to NRL club elite pathways not to genuine local amateur clubs. The NSW cup and Qlnd cup get a large % of so called grass roots investment.
Last year the NRL cut $33million (around 35%) funding to grassroots, be interesting to see this year how much they have put of that back in.

NRL needs to go back to the Smith era and reintroduce some transparency about what's going on. Every state body should have to produce an annual report for starters. The NRL annual report should show registered players by age group, gender and state AND participation numbers of non registered players and touch registrations by state. Its hard to have much faith in the sound bites of Vlandys and Abdo when they continue to hide the facts.

League Stars is supposed to be the RL equivalent of Auskick. It is a six or eight week ($99) after school or one day ($49) holiday program usually run at schools. According to the Play NRL website there are 15 centres within 200km of Sydney, and six in SEQ.

Auskick is funded by the AFL, is usually run by clubs on the weekends and follows the junior season for abut 15 weeks. It is around $90 and you get a backpack, football/pump, drink bottle, team shirt. Cricket Australia runs an identical program called Weetbix Blast. It works. According to the Auskick website, there are over 50 Auskick centres around Sydney (including 14 on the Central Coast which was a shock). Also 50+ in SEQ.

To balance that, junior RL starts at U6s and AFL does not start until U8s, so there are probably still more kids 4 - 8 playing RL in NSW/Qld, but still it demonstrates the lack of funding and structure to get kids playing RL. Particularly for girls who are unlikely to go straight into team RL without some kind of fun/skills intro. Especially against much bigger boys. Female is the growth segment for all football codes participation in Australia. This is where RL is in trouble.

Despite his comments in 2020 about not having to worry about the AFL, I have no doubt that PVL is now fully aware of all of this. Hence his current rhetoric around head injuries and participation. Is it time to totally overhaul junior RL? The problem is that PVL can’t make a non-consultative decision like sin bin for head contact here. It will require significant funding an a team of people who really know what they are doing if they want to restructure junior RL. Big job, but kids and females is where the AFL is making inroads, so something must change.

NOTE - TV ratings demographics back all of this up. The AFL V NRL ratings for males over 35 did not change last year. No one is changing from NRL to AFL. All of the AFL gains were in U35s and . The NRL demographic is getting older, the AFL is getting younger, and attracting more females. It is all about mums and kids.

 

[Apey]

Has the crackdown been successful in reducing high shots?