Will fewer interchanges kill wrestling in the NRL?

Maybe I should have made it clearer but I said reducing defenders involved in the tackle will allow the line to remain intact and this will take precedence over having the extra defender getting off the ground as the balls being played. This constantly happens with 3 in the tackle where their trying to become tangled with the attacking player to slow his play the ball. With fatigue thurston, farah, smith etc will constantly threaten a defence that has even 1 player not making it back, regardless of the 3 seconds he saved slowing the ruck. Big men will certainly not become extinct however 2 props on the bench may. 3 back rowers can't make all the tackles so I don't understand your point. Probably will see an influx of back row type players to begin however I believe the pace of the game will see centres revert back to Michael Jennings/Steve Renouf as the perfect mould. Pace has lost out to size under the current set up however reduced interchange will have both commodities being equally important. In my opinion the NRL's decision is necessary to take away how much a coach influences every facet of his sides play and place the responsibility on the players with a 'footy' brain. Glenn Stewart and Johnathan Thurston are the forward and back with the best instinctive 'footy' brains IMO and with a reduced bench it's scary to think how much better they could have been. They're some of my favourite players to watch so anything that benefits them I'm all for.

Maybe I should have made it clearer but I said reducing defenders involved in the tackle will allow the line to remain intact and this will take precedence over having the extra defender getting off the ground as the balls being played. This constantly happens with 3 in the tackle where their trying to become tangled with the attacking player to slow his play the ball. With fatigue thurston, farah, smith etc will constantly threaten a defence that has even 1 player not making it back, regardless of the 3 seconds he saved slowing the ruck. Big men will certainly not become extinct however 2 props on the bench will. 3 back rowers can't make all the tackles so I don't understand your point. Probably will see an influx of back row type players to begin however I believe the pace of the game will see centres revert back to Michael Jennings/Steve Renouf as the perfect mould. Pace has lost out to size under the current set up however reduced interchange will both commodities equally important. In my opinion the NRL's decision is necessary to take away how much a coach influences every facet of his sides play and place the responsibility on the players with a 'footy' brain. Glenn Stewart and Johnathan Thurston are the forward and back with the best instinctive 'footy' brains and with a reduced bench it's scary to think how much better they could have been. Their some of my favourite players to watch so anything that benefits them I'm all for.

Do you remember why they brought in the 10m rule? To encourage more expansive play.

"holding players for extended periods requires more defenders and drains a defensive line more than laying a player straight on his back." May be true for the guy doing the actual wrestling but not true on the rest of the team. No matter what the wrestle will always give the defence more time to set properly than traditional tackles (regardless of whether or not it's dominant. Takes more time to wrestle someone onto their back as their going down and wouldn't require more energy than putting a Gallen on their bum) and reducing interchange will more than likely lead to a backrow of 80 minute players whose sole job is to wrestle. The way to promote the smaller guys into the footy shouldn't come at the exclusion of the bigger guys.

I disagree, I remember Lazarus and Gaven Allen doing a great job up the middle, every one at the time said correctly by doing so they created space out wide for the backs to run riot.

That's not really how league was played 25+ years ago when there were limited replacements available.

Actually no wrestling is when you aren't an effective defender. Someone above said players like gillmeister will be seen more and he's spot on. Less subs means the less energy used to make a tackle the better. With 6 subs Alan Tongue putting players straight on the back and landing on top of them will be a coaches wet dream. I love that rugby league isn't arrogant enough to think rules don't need changing once professionalism and coaches halt progress. NRL you are doing more right on the game than I've seen. Keep making the bold decisions!

No you will see the return of the dominant tackle as the best means to slow a defence. One low one high. Holding players for extended periods (wrestling) requires more defenders and drains a defensive line more than laying a player straight on his back. A forward pack will gain more advantage from effective dominant tackling allowing the 3rd tackler to stay in the line. The coaches will be all over this and have there players defending with a priority on using as little defenders as possible to complete a tackle.

This change will fail badly. It will just produce more penalties as tired tacklers don't get off quick enough or don't get back 10m. Dopey NRL think logic will fail again.

I'm with you AGO74 ! I never agreed with the interchange rule when it was introduced and ever since we have simply stereotyped the game with a robotic style based solely around speed & power, collision & wrestle. We now have an oh so predictable style generally adopted by every team based on 5 x hit ups and a 'hail mary" bomb or a hopeful restart for more of the same again. The worst aspect however, has been the complete change in participation of the sport particularly impacting the junior levels which translates then at the future NRL level. No longer can small , tricky , play makers with individual attacking talents come through the ranks as they are being belted out of the game by "mini me" amazons in the under 12's ! If you can't come up with 30 tackles on kids twice your size each game, you need to go and find another sport, young Harry ! Under the current interchange format we may never see a young Peter Sterling, Steve Mortimer, Greg Alexander, Phil Blake or Slippery Morris come through to NRL level again. And just have a look how many decent playmakers we now have in the game today ? I can think of only 3 who have survived the interchange onslaught , and they now command their own price, impacting even further on the clubs . Scrap the interchange altogether and go back to the 4 replacements rule.

Wrestling has always been a major part of all the Rugby based games.What is tackling ?Answer....just another name for wrestling,if wrestling does not appeal to you then watch touch or soccer (and even soccer involves some wrestling)

Possibly, junior level especially -- Polynesians seem to develop quicker physically which helps in that regard.

Agree 100%, Alex NRL HQ barking up the wrong tree, once again.

I guess that world 13 does not reflect junior or senior level RL ATM.

Both of you are going down a pretty silly line of thinking. Currently in the game the best forwards aren't Polynesian for the most part, if you picked a world XIII there would be two Polynesians in the forward pack at most and maybe one in the outside backs.

The days of anglo celtic players are way over, the NRL is and will become increasingly PI.

This although might reduce the number of Polynesians (forwards) in the game.

NRL needs to follow the rugby example. Allow interchanges but once you come off you stay off. This will make the coaches think and will also bring the necessary component of 'fatigue' into the game. Fatigue is vital to a combatitive sport as it changes the game as it progresses and increases as a factor near the end of the game. It makes big players important for their part in the battle then it makes the little guy or the speedsters important for their part of the battle plus it makes the coaches and strategists work harder with their game management. Therefore all of these components become vital. I think seeing big blokes playing for 10 minute shifts has detracted from the fans interest in the contest. This is a simpe, fix that does not take much to implement.

I think it will reduce the wrestle and combined with the rules, eliminate it. In regards to crowds I think the crowds are just in different places these days. The spread of crowds could well be different. If we wait until after a massive april, it will come back. Larger stadia, more events, people are changing to that rather than brave the suburban grounds and lesser matches. I think this is a transitional period and people are getting worked up over nothing.

The wide men might have to come in to help out in the middle creating space out wide.