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With season 2104 wrapping up I’ve come up with 10 points the NRL needs to address to make 2015 the best season ever.
10. Scrap the damned scrum, or contest it
Pretty obvious, really, the scrum’s pointless in the game. Currently, it’s a nothing play for a nothing penalty. A quick tap could be just as effective.
Better still, start contesting scrums again. It’s not like the front row has enough to do already, and might give the lock and hooker their roles back.
9. The video referee
I could bang on for hours on this one point, but I’ll be brief; have three in the video ref box, give them Hawkeye and Hotspot, and make them the second ref and touch judges, able to halt play for any infraction.
Less confusion, less problems and more accurate calls.
8. The interchange
Either have a six-man bench with ten changes per match, or a four-man bench with a fifth ‘injury interchange’ player, only allowed on if an injured player cannot return to the field, and eight changes per game.
Four subs with ten changes, with the NRL’s current rate of injuries, isn’t working for most teams.
And yes, being a Panthers fan and seeing our blokes dropping like flies has led me to this point.
7. Jerseys
So many people are against this season’s many, many jersey options. I suggest one main strip and one clash strip.
Any promo jerseys must be in club colours or you don’t get to wear it on game day. The only exception is heritage jerseys, which really only effects Penrith and Wests.
I actually committed sacrilege this year, and brought my first non-Panthers or Queensland jersey, ever… a St George Iron Man jersey. I love Iron Man, couldn’t pass it up.
But I also purchased Penrith’s home, away, pink, heritage and Close the Gap jerseys – that last one I ordered online yesterday – this year.
I like them, so sue me.
6. Sydney teams
Someone has to be relocated, forcibly if need be, and I’m sticking with Cronulla, as I always will.
The club needs help, and a seachange is the best idea. I don’t think they necessarily need to go to Perth, but just get out of NSW and clear some of the logjam of fans.
Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania or Papua New Guinea? You’re guess is as good as mine, just not NSW or the ACT.
5. Player draft and mid-season changes
Just… no. Have a pre and post-season free for all, but drop these mid-season switches, and have no signings or negotiations allowed from game 1, Round 1 until the ref’s final whistle on grand final day.
Teach players and their managers the meaning of a contract, and show some tough love. Players missed out on a club or can’t get a deal with another code in time? Cry me a river, park footy for you.
4. State of Origin
Leave it where it is but consolidate it into three weeks, with all teams getting that time off as a mid-season break.
3. The salary cap
Scrap it, or raise it to $10 million, and have no third-party regulations or restrictions.
If Sonny Bill Williams or Billy Slater can sign with a shoe company, car brand or whatever for a bit extra, so what? Did the Bulls limit Michael Jordan’s involvement with Nike, Gatorade or Maccas? Nope. So why should the most marketable faces in the NRL be forced to have their earning potential restricted?
Club pays a player X amount within the cap, and if they can get more, they get more. If they can’t, too bad.
While I realise certain clubs like Melbourne, Brisbane, Penrith the Roosters and Souths could realistically attract brands who can afford to pay far more than clubs like the Tigers, Sharks, etc, I don’t really care much. Work on your brand better.
On that note, the Titans should be cap exempt for two years, to combat the Suns.
2. Betting agencies
Can we drop the gambling like we dropped the smokes? It’s not healthy for kids to attend games at SportingBet Stadium, or see adds for odds.
Gambling should be illegal in my book, but as it’s not, we can make the bookies go broke, and help out a few families by getting it out of the NRL. Now.
1. Expansion
Bring in two teams in 2015, and two in 2016, with none from NSW. WA and Central Queensland or a second Brisbane team in 2015, and either another WA or Victorian team in 2016, along with either another New Zealand team or Papua New Guinea.
I’d love a team here in South Australia, but there really is no point, they won’t get the fan-base they need to survive, and I’ll never stop being a Panther’s member.
20 teams is about right. Everyone plays everyone twice, 10 games a week, two Friday, four Saturday, and four on Sunday.
No more Thursday or Monday night footy, it’s bad for the crowds. I know that means the season then becomes longer, but I for one would be happier with that, especially if my three-week Origin break is included.
0. The commentary and Channel Nine
Rabbits, it’s time to retire. Joey, get lost, and who the hell hired Darren Lockyer? Ray Hadley will probably be gone before season’s end, given I don’t think even Channel Nine folk like him.
Gus Gould can stay, with no more Rabbits, he’d do alright. Bring back Andrew Voss. Try and poach Brandy Alexander from Fox, and get Sterlo back.
Then, finally, the footy commentary will be about *gasp* footy. Then, sack Channel Nine for breach of contract in not showing the NRL live in all states, and go with Seven or Ten.
What do you think, Roarers? What would you do?
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