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Darren Lockyer has revealed his suggestion list for rugby league as he prepares to bring down the curtain one one of the game’s great playing careers.
Dumping scrums, reducing the interchange to eight and having the NRL pick up the tab for all its clubs’ salary caps – which he predicts will be around $5 million once the new TV rights deal is struck – are all part of it.
The 34-year-old Australia, Queensland and Brisbane captain opened up with his views on how to make rugby league more entertaining for fans, so combating the threat from rival codes, and how to make it stronger internationally.
As a student of the game who’s preparing to exit the playing ranks with all sorts of records for consistent high achievement, Lockyer’s opinions deserve scrutiny.
He believes abolishing scrums would improve the code as a spectacle, giving fans more bang for their buck by reducing stoppages and maintaining the attrition from fatigue factor.
“It’s not too bad at the moment but as clubs get better and better at making players fitter, faster and stronger, we have to be mindful that the game keeps a balance between the big collisions and an open style of football,” Lockyer told AAP.
“The video ref is as good as an interchange these days because sometimes they go over it (decisions) a half a dozen times which gives players a good rest.
“I think we need to be looking at ways to minimise stoppages which is why I’m not sure there’s much point having scrums any more.”
Lockyer conceded playing without scrums would look odd initially.
“I’m not saying it has to happen but as players get fitter and stronger you need to find ways to get them to fatigue so it’s not just a bash and barge game,” he said.
Lockyer says cutting down on interchanges would similarly return the emphasis to attrition.
“Drop it (interchange) to eight and do away with the scrums and you’ll have the best of both worlds,” he said.
Lockyer said old State of Origin games were great examples of the kind of football fans enjoyed.
“You watch those games and they’d get stuck into each other early but once that was over the footy starts to open up,” he said.
“That’s the trend I believe can take the game forward.”
With the NRL set to earn a lot more money when the new television rights deal is done, Lockyer said “in an ideal world” the NRL would pay the clubs the amount of the salary cap.
While Lockyer supported the pending introduction of an independent commission to govern the game, he would also like to see an independent panel set up to deal specifically with off-field player misbehaviour given the number of black eyes the game has received in recent years.
On the question of expansion, a hot topic with the new commission soon to take control of the game and with several bids already on the table, Lockyer says it should not happen until the existing 16 NRL clubs are all financially secure.
Having played more Tests, Origins and soon NRL games than any other in history, Lockyer fears for the future of international football unless the game’s administrators find ways to stem the flow of Australian players overseas.
He said major Test rivals Great Britain and New Zealand needed to give more opportunities to their young talent before they looked to Australia if they wanted to be an international force.
One area he wouldn’t tamper with is the game’s crown jewel — State of Origin.
He wouldn’t even mess with Origin’s controversial eligibility rules — a sore point with rugby league fans in NSW since NSW-born Greg Inglis opted to play for Queensland.
“My theory is if a player has spent time on both sides of the border for a period of their life, at the end of the day it comes down to who they want to play for,” said Lockyer.
“Origin is about pride and passion. If you’re not passionate about the team you’re going to play for, then why be there?”
Lockyer, who’ll play his 36th and final Origin at Suncorp Stadium next month as his Queensland team chase a sixth straight series win, has one other item on his wish list before hanging up his boots at the end of the year as its most decorated player.
A fifth premiership with Brisbane — that would be the perfect farewell gift for a player who has given the game so much.
Darren Lockyer’s suggestions to make the game more attractive to fans and enhance the NRL:
* Dump scrums in favour of a handover of possession to minimise stoppages.
* Further reduce the number of interchanges to eight to make attrition more of a factor.
* Clubs to have their salary caps paid from by the NRL out of it’s new TV rights deal.
* Delay expansion until all of it existing 16 NRL clubs are financially secure.
* Increase the salary cap to $5 million after TV rights deal is struck.
* Establishment a three-person panel to rule on off-field player misbehaviour.
* More education for young players to reduce the off-field misbehaviour which can be so damaging to the game.
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