Paul Kent: NRL’s new 18th man rule will be poisoned by crafty coaches

A rule intended to save players will instead be used by coaches to exploit an already murky area, writes Paul Kent.

Ryan Matterson has been sidelined since being concussed against Melbourne. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Newton’s Third Law, or maybe it was Murphy’s Law, proposed that for every action there was an equal and opposite reaction.

The NRL knows this all too well.

A new law was enacted on Tuesday and at first glance it looks sound and safe, a practical response to a worrying direction the game is headed towards, with concussion protocols changing the game forever.

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But of course nothing is as it seems in the NRL, the only competition in the world where the moment a rule is proposed to benefit the game the head coaches, or at least a majority of them, sit down with their assistants and spitball ways to exploit the new rule to their own advantage.

It put the NRL in an unenviable position as it tried to navigate through the latest trend of teams running short due to the heightened vigilance around concussion protocols.

Josh Dugan was treated for a head knock against the Cowboys. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

For some years now some coaches have exploited the rule the other way, for instance, by sending their trainers on somewhere between 25 and 30 minutes in to tap a middle forward on the head and tell the referee he needs to go off for a Head Injury Assessment (HIA).

The middle forward, perhaps out of embarrassment, might rise from the ground groggily to support the act, aware every good con needs a convincer to make the sell.

The HIA gives his team a free interchange while the player goes off and has his test. The smart ones drag it out long enough to make halftime, which adds an extra 15 minutes rest, and by the time he naturally passes his test he returns fully rested with no cost to the interchange.

An action and a reaction, equal and opposite.

A rule intended to save the player is instead being used to rest players as well as throw fresh players into the contest.

So any thoughts about adding an 18th man after recent events, when teams were left short on the bench through concussions, were naturally flooded with conspiracy.

While the intention is to save a team from playing a man down the true belief was that most teams would exploit the rule, faking injury, and employ the extra 18th man in a 17-man game.

The AFL brought in a similar rule change before its season began and by the end of the first round every team had qualified to use it.

The NRL had to zealously guard against this as it tried to manage its way through what was safe and reasonable.

The NRL proposed to allow an 18th man only if three players were ruled out after failing HIA’s but, on Tuesday, the ARL Commission also decided to allow an 18th man if a player is ruled out through foul play.

On first look, it looks like a whole lot of argument about nothing.

The first certainty from the new rule is that more players will be sent off or sin-binned in upcoming games.

At one point on Tuesday the ARL Commission questioned whether a player on report should be the threshold. “We decided that it was too broad,” NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said.

It was a veiled concession from Abdo that the thresholds are about to change.

Three weeks ago Felise Kaufusi knocked Ryan Matterson cold with a lethal elbow. Matterson has not played since because he has ongoing symptoms from the concussion, a late withdrawal from Monday’s win against Wests Tigers.

Kaufusi also hasn’t played since, the match review committee suspending him for two weeks for a tackle that was as bad as it looked.

But Kaufusi was not sent off. He was not even sin-binned.

Instead, in one of those weak decisions that highlights the lack of confidence in the referees

Kaufusi would have been sent off in any other era you care to name.

What saved him was that the send-off has almost disappeared from the game.

Parramatta’s Ryan Matterson has been sidelined since being concussed against Melbourne. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

This was one of the great cons inflicted on the game’s administration many years back.

It happened about the first time a player was exonerated at the judiciary and the coach, you could take a pick of any one from a dozen from the 1990s, pointed out how his team was cost any chance of victory once it was reduced to 12 men.

It might have been even true, but that was irrelevant.

It created a narrative the game was forced to act upon.

How do you enforce discipline in the game without sabotaging a teams’ chance at victory? It almost became an unwritten rule that teams could no longer win with 12 men.

One bad send-off changed the rules forever.

Referees have continually taken the safe option in regard to foul play, even when it was unsafe towards the players.

This new rule flips the pressure back on the referees to dismiss players to avoid angry coaches after the game hammering the game for not enabling them to activate their 18th man.

NRL APPROVES 18TH MAN RULE

By David Riccio

The NRL has rubber-stamped the introduction of an 18th player, effective immediately.

The ARL Commission on Tuesday approved clubs to activate an 18th player when three players fail a HIA, or when a player suffers a match-ending injury caused by foul play and the perpetrator is sin binned or sent off.

Reacting to the code’s stiff concussion protocols that have left some clubs with depleted interchange benches, the 18th player must be:

– A NRL registered player who is eligible for selection in that round and part of the 21-man squad selected for the match.

– Clubs will be permitted to select any player from the above mentioned rosters and must identify the player when final team sheets are provided on game day.

– The new rule will be effective from Round 5 and will be further monitored and adjusted if needed.

Moeaki Fotuaika comes off the ground after being concussed. Picture: AAP Image/Dave Hunt

The commission sought consultation from all 16 clubs and the RLPA before confirming the decision.

In an NRL statement, ARLC Chairman Peter V’landys said the decision would provide a safety net for all clubs and players in uncommon instances of multiple HIAs, and also ensure a team is not disadvantaged when losing a player for the match due to foul play.

“Player wellbeing is a priority for the Commission and this additional safety net ensures players continue to be protected,’’ he said.

“Our clubs are outstanding in the way they detect and monitor head injuries and the activation of an 18th player in rare cases of three failed HIAs during a game will ensure continued strict compliance throughout a match.

“We’ve also approved an 18th player to be activated when a player suffers a match ending injury because of foul play where the perpetrator is sin binned or sent off.

“Why should a team be disadvantaged by an act of serious foul play? This was a strong message from all clubs and fans and the Commission has listened to that feedback.

“We’ve also listened to clubs and players about the criteria of the 18th player used and will allow the club to select any of its registered players which will enable the most effective team combination on game day. I want to thank all Clubs and the RLPA for their feedback.”