Which team will best handle the faster way of playing?

Time to see which teams capitalise on the faster game this season?

Action from the inaugural match between the Ipswich All Stars and Ipswich Indigenous side at the North Ipswich Reserve. Picture: Bruce Clayton

BOMBER'S BLAST

Anthony Breeze

RUGBY league will look different this year with several rule changes introduced to make the game faster and a better spectacle.

Let me break them down for you.

A two-point field goal from outside the 40 metre line will give an attacking team a chance to win a narrow game without a penalty doing the job as it normally does.

Six again will also be waved now when teams are off-side in defence giving the attacking team more of the ball and making the defending team do a lot more tackling.

Scrums haven't completely been eradicated but have been severely reduced by a handover now taking place after the ball or a player goes over the touchline.

Handovers will also come into play if an attacking team plays the ball incorrectly or doesn't make a genuine attempt to play the ball.

Breaking from scrums now gives the non-offending team a choice to be awarded a penalty or repack the scrum.

If the offending team offends for the second time, a player will be sinbinned.

In cases where a captain's challenge review is inconclusive, the on-field decision will stand but the team will retain their challenge.

Where the on-field referee believes a try is scored, the referee will award a try and the bunker will review the decision in the background.

A conversion attempt will not be permitted until the bunker is satisfied a try has been scored. In 2021, where a trainer asks a match official to stop the game for an injury, the injured player must be either interchanged or taken off the field for a period of two minutes of elapsed game time before he is permitted to resume his place on the field.

This hopefully will stop trainers attempting to stop play for minor injuries.

The season starts tonight so lets see which club can adapt to the new rules the quickest.

It's great to have rugby league back.

Greatest of all-time?

RUGBY league has many superstars and one of the greatest in Cameron Smith has retired.

Smith has done everything in rugby league from captaining his club to premierships, his state to Origin series wins and his country to World Cup glories.

Smith was a calm man on the field and his vision was always several steps ahead of any opposition players.

The records set by Smith may never be broken with the most games ever (430) in the NRL being the top one.

 

In his glittering career, he also won many awards including being named Dally M Hooker of the Year on nine occasions.

He was Dally M Captain of the Year five times, Dally M Player of the Year twice, Dally M rep player of the Year four times, Wally Lewis Medalist as Queensland's best player in Origin four times and Harry Sunderland Medal winner twice.

At the top of the list, he was named Golden Boot winner as the best player in the world.

Rugby league is poorer for his retirement but opposing sides will breathe a lot easier now by not seeing him on the field.

Questions will now start to be asked if he is the greatest player ever to play the game.

Quick thoughts

WINNERS: 1. All officials and players that took part in the inaugural Allstars rugby league game. The crowd was good and the skill on the field was top class.

2. The Brisbane Bullets have hit a purple patch of form with two great victories over teams sitting in higher positions.

3. The Hornets men first grade side and women's second grade team who have made the semis and grand finals respectively. The club is definitely on the rise.

LOSERS: 1. The Brisbane Lions are tipped to go a long way into the finals this year but have hit a hurdle early with young star Cam Raynor ruled out for season with a serious knee injury.

2. The Brisbane Roar were the hot team in the A-League a few weeks ago but their form has slipped alarmingly and just can't buy a goal at the moment.

3. Aussie UFC fighter Megan Anderson is very talented but was brought back to earth with a crushing defeat at the hands of superstar Amanada Nunes.

4. The Aussie T20 men's cricket team and national netball side both suffered series defeats at the hands of the Kiwis. They got close but not close enough.

Sporting birthdays March 11

1. 1985: Nikolai Topor-Stanley - Aussie Soccer player who has played over 300 games for Sydney FC, Perth Glory, Western Sydney Wanderers and Newcastle Jets.

2. 1993: Anthony Davis - 2012 No 1 Draft Pick for the New Orleans Pelicans. Currently plays for the LA Lakers.

On this day

1. 1892 - 1st public basketball game is played in Springfield Massachusetts.

2. 1983 - Ice Dance Championships won at Helsinki by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.

3. 1991 - Monica Seles ends Steffi Graf's streak of 186 weeks as No 1.

4. 2013 - Laureus World Sports Awards are won by Usain Bolt and Missy Franklin.

5. 2020 - NBA suspends current season until further notice as Rudy Golbert tests positive to COVID.

Originally published as Which team will best handle the faster way of playing?