NRL torched over radical rule change trial

The NRL is pushing for a radical rule change and want it to feature in the Tigers’ and Bulldogs’ final game of the 2021 season.

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 21: Mitchell Pearce of the Knights kicks the ball during the round 23 NRL match between the Canterbury Bulldogs and the Newcastle Knights at Cbus Super Stadium, on August 21, 2021, in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

The NRL will consider punishing teams who kick into touch by rewarding the opposing team with a seven-tackle set.

ARL commissioner Wayne Pearce, who heads up the game’s innovation committee, said the rule change would be discussed at a meeting next week, with the dead rubber between the Tigers and Bulldogs mooted as one game to trial it in.

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Barring the 40-20 and the 20-40 – which has never been used at NRL level – every kick into touch would lead to a seven-tackle set.

“At the moment, when a ball gets kicked into touch, there’s a turnover and the team can have it in the middle of the field or wherever they want to have it,” Pearce told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“My view is that there’s a difference between a player running into touch – whether it be trying to score a try or whatever – and a player deliberately kicking into touch to slow the play down.

“Sometimes players can’t help going into touch or the ball getting passed into touch, but if the ball is deliberately kicked into touch, then there should be some sort of disincentive.

“This is only my view – and I haven’t run it past the innovation committee yet – is that we would restart with a seven-tackle set.

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“That then becomes consistent if you kick the ball dead-in-goal. So rather than dead-in-goal, the whole perimeter of the field – if the ball gets kicked out of bounds – then there’s a seven-tackle restart. It disincentivises some of the teams from kicking into touch and trying to get a slow restart.”

Pearce claimed the change would encourage teams to keep the ball in play so as to avoid the rigour of defending more tackles.

Mitchell Moses gets a kick away

“Effectively, it’s like the 20-metre tap restart [for kicks that go beyond the in-goal] – teams hate that because the extra tackle means a significant difference to where the play will end up on the last tackle,” Pearce said.“It’s not something that pops its head up in many games anyway, there might be games where they don’t kick the ball into touch. Some teams use it as a ploy because they think ‘we can slow it down and get our defence set’.”

But Pearce’s suggestion came under attack from Storm forward Christian Welch.

https://t.co/fg2PORCedm

Please just leave our game alone. The tension, grind, pressure & game management almost already gone. Would love the commission for less gimmicking with the rules & more focus on bigger picture strategy

— Christian Welch (@clwelch94) August 26, 2021

Sharing a foxsports.com.au story, Welch tweeted: “Please just leave our game alone.

“The tension, grind, pressure & game management almost already gone. Would love the commission for less gimmicking with the rules & more focus on bigger picture strategy.”

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Originally published as NRL torched over radical rule change trial