NRL introduce sweeping changes for 2020 season

TheDaBoss

Well-known member
NRL introduce sweeping changes for 2020 season
Author
Wests Tigers
Timestamp
Fri 6 Dec 2019, 12:05 PM

The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) has today approved a number of key changes ahead of the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership.

The rule and operational changes are as follows:

A 20/40 rule will be introduced in addition to the existing 40/20 rule
The “mutual infringement” law will be amended, allowing the referee to replay the previous play-the-ball in the event of play being irregularly affected by circumstances out of the players’ control
The team with the loose head and feed will be able to nominate to pack a scrum from three lateral positions (the nearest 10-metre line, the 20-metre line, or in line with the block dot on the crossbar). Teams will be given five seconds to inform the referee of their choice of scrum position
The act of tackling a player in mid-air will be banned whether the player initiating contact is the attacking player or the defending player, in line with the current International Laws of the game
Furthermore, the Commission agreed that further limitations should be placed on the time orange and blue shirt trainers could spend on the field.

The specific constraints will be finalised prior to the February Commission meeting.


During a meeting in Sydney, the Commission also endorsed the introduction of a general-play “challenge” system. NRL management will work through all the operational details with a final report to be provided to the commission in February.

Additionally, the Commission recommended a trial be undertaken in the second-tier competitions to assess the impact of teams being required to use six players in a scrum even when down to 12 players.

The changes followed discussion by the NRL Competition Committee and the NRL Head Coaches last month.

NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said the Commission was determined to ensure the quality of Rugby League as a spectacle was paramount.

“We are constantly looking at ways to ensure the game is easier to officiate, and is also innovative and unpredictable,” Mr Greenberg said.

“We certainly feel these changes will have a positive impact on the sport.”

NRL Head of Football Elite Competitions Graham Annesley said all confirmed changes would be applied to the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership.

“We have taken advice and feedback from the key stakeholders of the game in order to make these decisions,” Mr Annesley said.

“There has been significant engagement with our fans, the Competition Committee as well as through the NRL Coaches, the Clubs, and the RLPA. Over 20,000 fans responded to an end of season survey, more than tripling the response to the 2018 on-line survey.”

Mr Annesley said there was strong support for each of the recommendations from the Competition Committee and the Coaches.

“We are constantly looking to evolve, and we believe these changes will lead to a more entertaining game for fans,” Mr Annesley said

“The Competition Committee and the Coaches all had the game as a spectacle at the heart of their discussions, along with other key considerations including player wellbeing and the impact on the sport at all levels, and that clearly aligns with the Commission’s overall vision for the sport.”
 
Interesting changes. We’ll have to wait and see how they are used and abused. I like banning being tackled in the air regardless if it is on a defending or attacking player. The scrum change is meh. Not sure what is to be gained or if the advantage will be too great. I can see this turning into a bit of a circus. Limiting time trainers are on the field, good. Not sure about the mutual infringement rule. Kinda hate how they allow the replay of the play the ball already, I think this will irritate me further.
 
@mike said in [NRL introduce sweeping changes for 2020 season](/post/1088060) said:
Interesting changes. We’ll have to wait and see how they are used and abused. I like banning being tackled in the air regardless if it is on an defending or attacking player. The scrum change is meh. Not sure what is to be gained or if the advantage will be too great. I can see this turning into a bit of a circus. Limiting time trainers are on the field, good. Not sure about the mutual infringement rule. Kinda hate how they allow the replay of the play the ball already, I think this will irritate me further.

20/40 gonna be a massive gamble.....

idk how much its gonna be used
 
@TheDaBoss said in [NRL introduce sweeping changes for 2020 season](/post/1088063) said:
@mike said in [NRL introduce sweeping changes for 2020 season](/post/1088060) said:
Interesting changes. We’ll have to wait and see how they are used and abused. I like banning being tackled in the air regardless if it is on an defending or attacking player. The scrum change is meh. Not sure what is to be gained or if the advantage will be too great. I can see this turning into a bit of a circus. Limiting time trainers are on the field, good. Not sure about the mutual infringement rule. Kinda hate how they allow the replay of the play the ball already, I think this will irritate me further.

20/40 gonna be a massive gamble.....

idk how much its gonna be used

I’m not sure I understand the use of 20/40, I’ll have to see it in action.
 
@GNR4LIFE said in [NRL introduce sweeping changes for 2020 season](/post/1088067) said:
That scrum rule has to be the dumbest, irrelevant rule change i’ve ever heard of.

That is what I was thinking. Children’s sports come to mind.
 
I think the scrum would be good if you have scrum in middle of field you can split defence and have attackers both sides and will stop the trend of having backs in the scrum as having a forward in defence line will be susceptible to a back getting around them as more likely to be isolated
 
@mike said in [NRL introduce sweeping changes for 2020 season](/post/1088066) said:
@TheDaBoss said in [NRL introduce sweeping changes for 2020 season](/post/1088063) said:
@mike said in [NRL introduce sweeping changes for 2020 season](/post/1088060) said:
Interesting changes. We’ll have to wait and see how they are used and abused. I like banning being tackled in the air regardless if it is on an defending or attacking player. The scrum change is meh. Not sure what is to be gained or if the advantage will be too great. I can see this turning into a bit of a circus. Limiting time trainers are on the field, good. Not sure about the mutual infringement rule. Kinda hate how they allow the replay of the play the ball already, I think this will irritate me further.

20/40 gonna be a massive gamble.....

idk how much its gonna be used

I’m not sure I understand the use of 20/40, I’ll have to see it in action.

If you're struggling to get off your line and can somehow manage a 20/40 then you basically instantly go from hard as defending to on the attack. I like the idea.
 
We now have 40/20 and a 20/40, but I assume no 30/30?

I've always found these touch-finder rules to be sort of pointless, because a 40/20 usually comes from an attacking team with great momentum, such that the kicker has sufficient time to stride to his mark and place the kick without defensive pressure. Why do you need to reward a team that gets a good kick away from almost halfway?

20/40 seems a bit pointless to me, I don't think many teams will go for it, same as they rarely attempt touch-finders from the 20m restart. If you hit tackle 4 or 5 inside your 20, of course you might as well go for the sideline, but the chances of succeeding would be horrendously low given how little ground you've made.

If you still have tackles up your sleeve, 99% of the time you will carry the ball over the 20m.

I don't mind the scrum rule. NRL clearly wants to limit numbers of stoppages including scrums, but why not invite attacking teams to be more adventurous as a set play, if you get to place the scrum? Most of the time teams go across and back at scrums, because defensively scrums are a single consideration of a short blind and fixed width open side.

A centre-field scrum would be intriguing. Tim Sheens would love the opportunity!

What they really need to do is remove 7-tackle sets from dead-ball kicks within 20 or 30m. Same with errors in the in-goal by the attacking side. It should only be for long-distance kicks that go dead.
 
Would it hurt for the NRL to implement these rules for 2021 season? Seriously, a number of rule changes 3 months out from the start of a new season. In a small business this works but for one of this size I find it to be amateur. They do it every year and it always leads to problems as no one has had much time to work with the new rules in place.

And they're always reactive. I'd love to know what Greenberg's vision for the game is and how these rules support that.
 
Not sure i like the 20/40. Its rewarding a team that is being dominated . the only reason you'd risk it is you're on the 5th and still in your own 20. The attacking team can monster up in defense, be all over the defending team, trapping them in their own 20 and then be put at a disadvantage by a lucky kick.
 
20/40 rule is interesting. I think that Brooks will kill it.

Sides may look for this option when their forwards are struggling to get back.

I worry it may lead to a NFL style punter where sides drop a kicker back to attempt when they are struggling to get out of their own area.
 
What about changes to Golden Point - still the biggest blight on the game, and what about the interchange rules!

They don't listen to what people want, 20/40, scrum change and mutual infringement pppfffttt

Who cares about that

Lets be sensible her
 
Can we just play rugby league the way it was intended. These changes with the scrum sound like buffoonery.
 
@BalmainJnr said in [NRL introduce sweeping changes for 2020 season](/post/1088101) said:
Can we just play rugby league the way it was intended. These changes with the scrum sound like buffoonery.

i still find it comical how forwards have to quickly pack a scrum (formation) to stop the clock.
 
@tig_prmz said in [NRL introduce sweeping changes for 2020 season](/post/1088106) said:
sound stupid..

fix the ruck

it's killing the game. just not dynamic attacking style rugby league anymore...
 
Back
Top