By Dan Walsh
The NRL’s latest rule change – aimed at reviving a contest for the ball that many previous shifts have eliminated – will come with a short restart caveat aimed at stopping cynical coaches from exploiting it.
Wednesday’s announcement that short kick-offs and dropouts will no longer result in a penalty if they go wrong is the 20th rule change or amendment in the past five years.
With the NRL tracking a 44 per cent increase in short dropouts being attempted since 2021, the new rule will see a play-the-ball, not a penalty, awarded if a team sends the ball out on the full or into touch without travelling the required 10 metres.
Head of football Graham Annesley points to the game’s desire for more contested ball – typically by the game’s aerial specialists – given there are now few instances in scrums or rucks where a team can challenge for the ball.
Cynics point to the potential for the change to reduce forced dropout attempts (why bother when the defending team now faces less risk for a short restart), or negative tactics, like drilling a ball straight over the sideline.
“But we always try to think through the unintended consequences of new rules,” Annesley said.
“So the new rule will only apply to kicks where it’s intended to have a contest for the ball.
“It doesn’t allow for teams to kick [a kick-off] over the dead ball on the full, or into touch on the full, 20 or 30 metres out from the goal line just to concede a play-the-ball rather than a penalty. It has to be a kick that is capable of being contested.
“And we all know what that looks like - from short kick-offs or dropouts - chasers are immediately out there to contest for the ball.
“Some people will say that puts more discretion in the hands of the referees, but every decision comes with discretion.”
Aside from the intricacies and impact of the rule change itself, which most coaches and club figures this masthead spoke to had no issue with, is the need for change at all.
Since Peter V’landys became ARLC chairman at the end of 2019, a slew of changes or amendments have followed – to the point the NRL titled a release 12 months ago as ‘No new rule changes for 2023’ ... before detailing five updated interpretations.
Some of the changes have been seismic, like six-agains and a return to one whistleblower.
Others have been genuine, necessary, clarifications – like when a captain’s challenge can be made after the Wests Tigers huffed and puffed about legal action as the NRL claimed the Cowboys had technically called to review the actual full-time stoppage, earning a match-winning penalty goal in the process.
Kickers like Nathan Cleary now have added incentive to risk a short drop-out.Credit: NRL Photos
Increased concern around head knocks and concussion impacts have also driven several changes, most tellingly 2021’s Magic Round crackdown on head contact, which didn’t change or amend any rules at all, just enforcement.
“The attraction with this dropout change is that, from a player safety point of view, it’s going to reduce the amount of huge collisions from kick-offs and dropouts,” Manly coach Anthony Seibold said, welcoming a new avenue to contest the ball like he saw during his time in rugby union.
“The big wind-up runs, when you get Nelson Asofa-Solomona with three defenders charging at him and potentially getting into a dangerous position where you get serious head knocks, that’s less likely with the shorter kick. I think the NRL’s very conscious of that and it’s a fair concern.”
New Dragons coach Shane Flanagan is sceptical of the rule being gamed by coaches and kickers, arguing “there will be a lot of shorter, along the ground, powerful kicks trying to find the touchline because the refs aren’t going to march over and give you a penalty in front of the posts.”
Meanwhile, NRL.com tracked the Bulldogs, Warriors and Cowboys as the most successful teams at regaining short dropouts, regathering a third of their attempts 2023.
Melbourne tried the trick shot most often given Xavier Coates and Will Warbrick patrol their flanks.
The most prolific exponents of the short drop-out in 2023.Credit: NRL
“I don’t know that it will change that much because we’ve already seen a lot of teams take on the short dropout,” veteran Storm football manager Frank Ponissi said.
“It’s something that’s practiced a lot like any part of the game. Maybe the kick-off element of the rule will see more teams try it given you won’t be inviting a team right down your end if it goes wrong.”
Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien points to the other side of the ball: “Practising your short dropout defence is going to be important”, while Cronulla gave up the ghost almost as soon as they tried to follow the lead of their rivals in 2023.
The Sharks attempted just five short dropouts last year and didn’t recover a single one, deciding early on to simply back their goal line defence.
Panthers premiership winner Scott Sattler spoke on Thursday to fears that a team like Penrith, with one of the stingiest defences in history, could deploy the short dropout to steer an attacking side into short-hand combat from a 10-metre play-the-ball.
As with every rule change, some will adapt better than others.
Overwhelmingly though, Annesley says there is little appetite for much more from the key stakeholders – clubs, the RLPA, broadcasters and fan surveys – when the game’s annual end-of-season reviews are held.
“‘Let’s not make too many changes’ is the overriding view,” Annesley said. “The game’s never been more popular and there will always be critics of course, but people are voting with their feet, coming to games in record numbers and watching on TV.
“That said, the [ARL] Commission has a very solid view that you have to remain one step in front of potential issues. We’ll always review the game at the end of each season and react if we need to. But that’s something that would be dictated by circumstance.”
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