NRL coaches back radical rule change to double interchange bench
Several premiership winning coaches have thrown their support behind a radical proposal for a rule change that would shake up the NRL.
Leading NRL coaches have thrown their support behind a radical proposal to potentially double the interchange bench to eight players in a rule change that would shake up rugby league.
Premiership winning coaches including Wayne Bennett, Ivan Cleary, Craig Bellamy, Ricky Stuart and Michael Maguire, as well as Cronulla’s Craig Fitzgibbon, met earlier this month and found unified support in expanding the NRL game day squad to up to 21 players.
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That would double the size of the interchange bench from four to eight players, but the current limit of eight interchanges per game would remain, and only four players from the eight could be called upon.
At the moment, NRL teams are allowed to have an 18th man on the bench, but they are rarely used — only after two failed head injury assessments (HIAs).
Extending the interchange bench would allow coaches to have a bigger pool of players to call on to replace a player in a specialised position.
For instance, when Melbourne centre Jack Howarth suffered a game-ending groin injury early in this year’s grand final, the Storm replaced him with utility Tyran Wishart, who had to play the game out of position.
Raiders five-eighth Ethan Strange was ruled out of his side’s semi-final loss to Cronulla on game day with illness, but Canberra couldn’t replace him with a like-for-like playmaker such as Ethan Sanders because he wasn’t in the team’s 19-man squad.
Most teams traditionally have three forwards and a back on their four-man bench, but an expanded interchange would give coaches more choice on who to inject into the game, perhaps bringing on an X-factor attacking player.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said per the SMH: “I’m keen on it, as I’m old enough to have used the concept of four from six on the bench when I coached reserve grade in the early 2000s.
“I liked it then as it provides specialist cover for specialist injuries, while also allowing the tactical replacements pending game situations.”
Maguire said: “A bench of six makes the game a better spectacle when fans can see the players in their positions at their best, plus it improves player welfare, particularly with growing concerns re head injuries.”
“If a halfback goes down, we’ve got a legitimate seven on the bench,” Roosters premiership winner Bryan Fletcher said on SEN.
The expanded interchange could potentially negate the role of the utility — the bench player wearing the No. 14 jersey who can fill a variety of positions, usually in the halves and hooker.
NRL reporter Michael Carayannis said the potential rule change could change the attritional nature of rugby league contests.
“I don’t love it. I think there is an element in this game of natural attrition, which has been a hallmark of rugby league for so long,” Carayannis said on SEN.
“That is not to put out battered guys or guys that have got those head knocks. Because we have safeguarded that now with the 18th man.
“I think because we have got that 18th man, I don’t think we need this situation where we are going to carry six players on the bench.
“We have set up the game now where the utility is so vital. Having that player, that jack-of-all-trades, has become a key component of the side. You would lose that.”
SEN host Jimmy Smith said: “If this is introduced, the value of the utility goes through the floor. You do not need them anymore … I think it is a knee-jerk reaction.”
The ARL Commission is voting on the proposal on Wednesday, and a proposal for an eight-man interchange bench is expected to be rejected, but a game day squad of 19 or 20 players could get the green light.
Originally published as NRL coaches back radical rule change to double interchange bench
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