The NRL is changing again and we can thank good coaching for that

THE metamorphosis has begun. Once again, coaching is coming back in vogue. Find out who’s impressed PAUL KENT the most in his quarterly report.

IF somebody offered Nathan Brown a deal, a kindly type of deal it must be said, to be a point ahead of the Sydney Roosters a quarter way through the competition there is little doubt he would have taken it.

If somebody told Neil Henry he would be squeezed between South Sydney and Manly on the ladder after six he would have smiled quickly and then furrowed his brow, his traditional look Because he takes his job seriously.

Fair to say Michael Maguire and Trent Barrett might have reacted the same, if for different reasons.

If they told Craig Bellamy his Storm would be a point behind the Raiders and he would not have blanched out of respect for his close mate Ricky Stuart, but he might have been concerned.

Once again the NRL nation is changing. The metamorphosis has begun. Now is about the time form starts to level out in the NRL. So time for the quarterly report.

Six games down out of 24, form is slowly evening out but already we are seeing some teams differently than we once did.

Brightest of all, coaching is coming back in vogue in the NRL.

Proper coaching. Not this cookie-cutter style that threatened to kill the game, death by boredom, when teams ran through block play after block play until one team broke first.

Slowly teams are starting to find their own style. At least the ones getting maximum impact for their dollar, anyway. Look at the Gold Coast, Newcastle. Then consider the indifferent form of the Warriors, or South Sydney, in need of refreshment.

The teams maximising their talents play for the coaches that have caught on quickest that heavily structured football is no longer the weapon it was. The cause seems to be, as many anticipated, the reduction in interchange, from 10 to eight over the summer.

Even though most anticipated it would slow the game the stories being told from clubland is that the game has actually quickened.

You can explain this through quicker play-the-balls because of less men in the tackle. The result is more room around the ruck. In turns it is prompting more instinctive style football.

The NRL should be congratulated for reducing the interchange. They should now look at dropping it again, from eight to six. The change has created an uncertainty about the games and the competition that is intoxicating.

Very little is what we thought it was.

Even allowing for the annual certainty that the early rounds are always filled with upsets and surprise revelations as teams look for consistency there are great swings in form that few saw coming.

Brad Arthur has got Parramatta off to an impressive start.

For me the surprise of the season still remains Parramatta. Not because the Eels are equal second on the ladder but how they got there.

Nothing is accidental about Parramatta’s success, all four wins built on hard work and effort. They take the chance out of the result. The Eels only just get the gong ahead of Gold Coast.

Henry has done a magnificent job at the Titans. Light on star power, the coach has built a 13-man game plan that calls on every player to do his part. Take Greg Bird out of the team and the Titans don’t have enough star power to light a candle.

It is quality coaching, relying on solid foundations instead of smoke or mirrors.

The Broncos and the Cowboys remain pictures of consistency. So far there are few teams where you can rely on the performance you will get with every weekend like they can. The Broncos and Cowboys simply deliver.

Titans coach Neil Henry has done great work building something out of nothing.

The Bulldogs and the Storm keep on keeping on but fall into old habits. Their over reliance on structure has already proven their undoing.

The Sharks are still finding a way to win, nowhere near where they should be but doing enough to be there when they do.

The Raiders are still surprising but remain hard to place given Aidan Sezer and Blake Austin have only just returned from early injury.

The Panthers have adjusted better than most to the new freedoms in the ruck and their second phase style will only get better as they get more confidence in each other.

Forget that they are only 2-4 so far, they will improve.

The Knights have little muscle to flex but again are beginning to get more out of what they have than most. With the youngest roster in the NRL Brown is doing things with Newcastle few expected.

Originally published as The NRL is changing again and we can thank good coaching for that