should scrums be a contest

[winnyason]

watched 76 gf between manly & parra the game was slow as but one thing was great a contest in the scrum, it did not have the technique of a rugby scrum but they pushed, and it was a great contest, just wondering who would like the scrum to be a contest again.
it would make the game more exciting.

 

[Twizzle]

I agree, otherwise what is the point in having them

 

[rugged]

agreed

 

[simostorm]

Get rid of them all together and just play the freakin ball.

 

[aids]

either do it properly, or scrap them and just have a tap.

 

[Timbo]

I agree they should be returned.

It wouldn't be hard, all that'd need to be done would stipulating the ball has to be fed in the tunnel, not the second rowers legs.

It'd also stop hookers and halves being interchangable.

 

[LeagueXIII]

Make them competitive, to outsiders they look stupid at the moment.

 

[BJ]

yeh make them competitive..
there's not point atm for a massive group hug of the forwards..
a tap of the ball would have the same effect..
i'd like one coach to train his team to go out one game and just push the attacking team in the scrum to win the ball..
but the way refs are these dyas they'd probably blow a penalty..

 

[LeagueXIII]

It's ridiculas how the refs coach the players when there is a scrum eg. telling them how to bind, when the ball is out etc. Having proper scrums would allow another dimension to the game and allow moves for uncrowded backlines. Which is a thing I miss from the old days. If anyone has seen the old North Sydney Bears moves from the 80's called america and canada, they were brilliant moves they worked nearly all the time, very clever

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I agree that they should either compete in the scrum or scrap them altogether. However I'd hate to see the contest become so important that props started to be selected on scrummaging ability alone and we ended up with "athletes" like Mr Stay-Puft the marshmallow man (aka Matt Dunning) playing league.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

Nah, I hated the old scrums. It would be a backward step to make them a contest again. It would slow the game down and scrum penalties would once again take pride of place on the list of things not to like about Rugby League.

I remember watching scrums being formed 4 and 5 times until the pedantic little prick with the whistle was happy, in game after game after game, for season after season after season.

Besides, going back to that would make us closer to Union than I'd like to be.

 

[LeagueXIII]

Rugby league attitude, if it's too hard scrap it.

 

[*Paul*]

If you want to go back to the 20-25 (or even more) penalties a game, bring it on.

Not to mention the ensuing whining when said penalties don't go the way people want - believe me, it was a crap shoot.

 

[Striker]

Id like to see the tap instead. There are enough rules now favouring the attacking team that a tap allows the defense to set before the tap is taken.

 

[ibeme]

I agree with EA. Not only will it cause relentless penalties and scrapfests, it'll eventually change the physique of forwards to be more like RU forwards, because they'll have to be built to contest scrums. That will have an adverse impact on the other 95% of the game, slowing it down. That's a big price to pay for such a small element of the game.

We can't scrap them either, because it takes the forwards out of the defensive line, opening it up for backs on backs attack. Unfortunately, teams don't exploit this enough.

I like it how it is.

 

[DIEHARD]

I would like to see them contested.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

Rugby league attitude, if it's too hard scrap it.

What, like Norths?

Scrums were a blight on the game, now they're a necessary evil at worst. I defy anyone who watched League in the 1970's to tell me that scrums made the game better than it is today.

Once every year someone comes up with the bright idea of making scrums the way they were. Sure, it's worthy of debate but it just isn't going to happen because it will slow the game down and piss everyone off.

Why do you think they were changed to the way they are now in the first place?

If we had messageboards like this in the 1970's, every second thread would have been calling for the abolition of scrums.

 

[Matt M]

I think we should scrap them, they are pretty pointless and just waste time, even if they are contested. We should replace them with a play the ball or a tap.

 

[nqboy]

Add a poll to this thread.

I vote to bring back the contest.

 

[gregstar]

no way!
we need them to have set plays for backs but that's all.
why waste time re-setting scrums & who wants games decided by scrum penalties? f*ck that! leave it as it is!