NRL 2022: Peter V’landys insists there won’t be a repeat of Magic Round crackdown madness
ARLC chairman Peter V’landys has moved to ease fears of officials over-reacting to growing concerns over the return of the wrestle and the speed of the game.
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Chair Peter V’landys emerged from an ARL Commission meeting on Tuesday to declare there would be no repeat of the officiating madness that turned Magic Round into Mayhem Round nearly 12 months ago.
The match officials have been in the spotlight all week after the NRL acted on concerns over the return of the wrestle and the impact it was having on the speed of the game.
That, in turn, prompted suggestions of the referees going overboard, as they did in Magic Round last year after an edict was handed down on high contact.
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Sin bins and send offs turned one of the marquee weekends of the season into a farce but V’landys insisted there would be no repeat as he revealed the commission had been monitoring game statistics on a weekly basis through the opening four rounds and grown increasingly concerned.
V’landys also revealed head office had received letters from frustrated fans asking them to act.
“That won’t happen,” V’landys said when asked whether there would be a repeat of Magic Round. “There is going to be no over-reaction.
“All they are going to do is make sure the rules are followed.
“If the players are breaching the rules, you have to take action.
“Those concerns are coming from the Twitter brigade who don’t represent the majority of fans. There have been a lot of letters coming in that we are letting the wrestle back in.
“We have noticed it ourselves through the statistics. We log on as directors to the statistics. They were alarming.”
The litmus test will come on Thursday night when Manly open the round by travelling to Newcastle. One of the players used to highlight the need to better enforce the rules — Tom Trbojevic — won’t be on the field thanks to injury.
In his place, exciting teenager Tolu Koula looks set to play fullback. Knights captain Kalyn Ponga will play and Newcastle will be hoping the changes allow their skipper to unleash his attacking game, which has been rarely sighted.
‘WE’RE NOT TINKERING WITH THE RULES’
-Brent Read and Fatima Kdouh
ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys and NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo have hit out at suggestions they are once again tinkering with the rules.
The game’s most powerful figures were signing from the same hymn sheet on Monday, insisting they simply want the existing rules to be better enforced amid fears the wrestle is making a return and the quality of the product is suffering.
“We’re not tinkering with the rules,” V’landys said.
“This is where people get it so wrong. We already have a policy where we’re trying to eliminate the wrestle. We just want it enforced.
“We don’t do things by gut feelings. We do things through proper data. We want to remind the coaches and players that if you do it, you will be punished. ”
Abdo added: “There is no policy or rule change happening. We monitor the data and trends of every game and review that information each week.
“We also monitor referee decision making and performance each match and round. Like we do during every season, where we identify a trend of noncompliance our coaching staff remind the referees of the need to be vigilant in that specific area through a data based review of decisions.
“We are striving to have the fairest and most entertaining game possible. It’s no different to a club coach focusing on a specific area of the game at training and team meetings where they believe their team could be stronger.”
V’landys and Abdo previously acknowledged that this year needed to be a season of consolidation after the rules upheaval that frustrated players, coaches and fans alike in 2021.
Rules were changed at a whim. The competition was split between the haves and have nots. Scorelines were lopsided and the decision was made to make minimal changes to allow players and coaches to adapt to the new norm.
Through the opening three rounds, winning margins were the lowest they have been in recent history. A week later and some coaches would apparently have you believe the NRL is in crisis. Privately, the NRL has had concerns for some time over the return of the wrestle slowing down the game.
News Corp spoke to a senior NRL official on Friday night who flagged issues over policing of the ruck in certain areas of the field and Abdo echoed that sentiment on Monday.
The suggestion has been that the lax policing of the ruck has shackled the likes of Tom Trbojevic and James Tedesco. Yet Trbojevic and Tedesco were outstanding for their sides at the weekend – Tedesco ran for nearly 200 metres while Trbojevic went close to cracking the 300-metre barrier.
Heaven help opponents when the shackles are removed. We could get a taste of the new norm this weekend as Abdo praised the match officials for their efforts this season, albeit with a caveat.
“Our data shows teams are pushing the boundaries around ruck speed outside the 40m zone and our referees have been made aware of that trend,” Abdo said
“Accordingly, as the chairman has stated all coaches and players are on notice that the referees will be strictly enforcing ruck speed and penalising wrestling tactics across the entire field.”
It has been suggested that Tuesday’s ARL Commission meeting could address the latest on-field trends, although the commissioners have bigger issues at hand.
They are expected to rubberstamp the financial forecasts for the next five years at their meeting, the final figures set to be shared with the players and clubs and be used as a guide for the salary cap and club grants until 2027.
In the meantime, NRL head of football Graham Annesley will be charged with ensuring the match officials remove any remnant of the wrestle from the game.
“This information is being fed back to referees and we are going to be tweaking a few things,” Annesley said.
“We are not talking about crackdowns or major changes in policy. This is existing policy.”
V’LANDYS FUMING OVER GO-SLOW TACTICS
-Dean Ritchie
An angry ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys has put every coach and player in the NRL on notice – continue to wrestle and slow down the ruck and expect severe ramifications.
And V’landys wants referees to immediately start issuing more ‘six again’ calls to allow strangled superstars, including Tom Trbojevic and James Tedesco, to be given the freedom to ignite rugby league this season.
V’landys even claimed the slowing down tactics were “spoiling the game for fans.”
An ARL Commission meeting this Tuesday will demand answers over why coaches have reintroduced wrestling again over the opening four rounds.
An increase in penalties and stoppage time – coupled with a decrease in six again calls – have allowed defensive lines to reset, nullifying some of the game’s finest attacking weapons.
Additional penalties has also permitted fatigued players to recover which allows for increased defensive line speed.
“We are putting the coaches and players on notice – don’t think that because you’ve got away with it over the last couple of rounds that you will get away with it for the rest of the year,” V’landys said.
“They’re on notice – we will give ‘six agains’ when players are wrestling and trying to slow down the ruck. If they continually breach and slow down the ruck – and spoil the game for the fans – then players will be sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes.
“We’re not going to tolerate the wrestle or slowing down the ruck. I’ve been monitoring this for the last couple of weeks and the wrestle is starting to creep back in and the ruck is slowly down.
“The brilliant players like Trbojevic and Tedesco aren’t the same players as they were last year because the balance has gone too far. We’re going to tell the referees that the policy of the Commission is that we will not tolerate the wrestle or slowing down the ruck.
“I always said I would act for the fans and I have been inundated by people saying the good work we have done is evaporating.
“We have a commission meeting on Tuesday and we want to make sure that the wrestle and slowing of the ruck, if there’s a transgression, then they give six again or a penalty.”
Under a new rule introduced this year, a penalty – not a six again – is awarded if a team commits a ruck or 10 metre infringement inside the 40 metre zone of the team in possession.
There are fears referees are awarding penalties inside a team’s own 40 metres but failing to award ‘six agains’ for similar infringements in other areas of the field.
Two recent games failed to attract one six again call in the first half but there were 12 penalties awarded.
“All we want to do is make sure we enforce the policy, which is, we’re not going to tolerate the wrestle or slowing down the ruck. Fatigue brings out the brilliant players,” V’landys said.
“Penalties have shot through the roof. It was the right decision for the penalties inside a team’s 40 but they still have to enforce the rest of the field. If they do that the balance will come back. It’s all about enforcement.
“They have hardly given any ‘six agains’ when the teams are attacking and the players are laying all over them, wrestling and slowing down the ruck.”
Blowout score lines have been drastically reduced this season.
Staggering stat reveals impact of NRL’s rule change
It’s the key rule change that has delivered the closest start to an NRL season in 24 years and erased the stunning blowouts that plagued last season.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal the winning margin across the opening three rounds compared to last year’s mismatch debacle has remarkably been slashed by nearly 50 per cent.
The revised six-again rule, key injuries to top-flight sides and improved rosters to lower-ranked clubs have been identified as key reasons behind the stunning blowout reversal from 2021.
Fox Sports Lab stats reveal the average winning margin is just 9.9 points so far this season, down from a whopping 18 points last year, making it the lowest average winning margin after three rounds since NRL started in 1998.
After three rounds last season, that average winning margin was already sitting at 15.7 points, before carnage hit the following week with blowout scores of 46-6, 38-0, 40-6 and 48-10. The average winning margin of that weekend was a staggering 26.1 points.
Thirteen of 24 games this year have been decided by seven points or less.
Further indicating how competitive season 2022 has become, an average of 6.58 tries have been scored each game compared to 8.02 through 2021.
Last season, when a team in defence committed a ruck or 10-metre infringement inside an opponent’s 40-metre zone, they conceded six more tackles, knowing attacking sides would remain hemmed in their own end, and they would then hoping for an error.
This year, those transgressions are now penalised, which releases the defensive pressure by clearing the ball with a kick for touch.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley said the ‘six again’ rule adjustment had “changed the momentum of games”.
“We want games to be as competitive as possible and also as fair as possible,” Annesley said.
“It’s pretty clear in the first three rounds that the games have been much more competitive. There’s a long way to go and who knows what the rest of the season will have in store but I’d like to think the tweak of the rules around the penalties inside the 40 have given teams the opportunity to get themselves into better position and mount counter attacks.
“It allows the team in possession, who are trying to get the ball out of their own territory, to kick for touch and mount some sort of counter attack in the opposition half.”
Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said another factor had contributed to the closer competition.
“A number of the top teams have had injuries to key personnel early this year but I also think a number of sides outside the top eight last season have improved their rosters,” he said.
“Keeping a healthy, stable roster is imperative towards keeping consistency. It’s been a very good change that the NRL has introduced in regards to the penalty inside the 40. Competitive games are what keeps people interested and what keeps broadcasters happy.”
No team has posted 40 points so far this season. That occurred 51 times in 2021.
“I made a comment to the boys the other day about how much more I am enjoying the league this season,” said Parramatta great Nathan Hindmarsh.
“I know we’re only heading into round four but it seems a closer contest. The better teams will start to drift away later this year and the gap will be there again between the top eight and the remaining teams.
“But there seems to be more stoppages which gives other teams the chance to compose themselves.”
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