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Rugby league doesn’t seem to be developing – the game is static when it comes to change and innovative play.
The latest controversy is of course the shoulder charge debate, and now we have the discontent from a number of clubs towards the NRL itself and its CEO Dave Smith.
These things are a distraction to the real issues in the game.
League has quality athletic players that have some of the best skills going around. I can’t help but notice that these players’ skills are not often on show because league is only structured towards completion rates.
Completion rates are probably good indicators of ball retention and possession, which are both good things, however focusing on this one aspect of the game brings repetition and predictability.
It seems most teams are coached in a way that prioritises completion of sets and maintaining possession. Possession is pointless if you do nothing with it or your time is wasted thinking purely about how to get through six tackles as opposed to thinking aggressively, every tackle. All that seems to get done is six tackles and a kick.
I think there are three simple things that could be coached and used to give a team an innovative advantage, and that would change the game as we know it.
Firstly, what happened to the mid-set kick? To be fair this one does come out every now and again, but it is rarely used well. League players don’t play for territory, they play for possession as I mentioned.
However, if you use territory intelligently you can play your opponent out of a game. This can work particularly if you have already shown defensive dominance. Turning a team around with a kick they aren’t expecting can be psychologically irritating.
Secondly, why are short kick-offs reserved for the 78th minute? This one doesn’t really fit in with the overall style of the game these days. If teams really wanted to retain or gain possession at all moments why would they not compete for the ball at the kick-off?
Gathering the kick-off after scoring would be seen in the same light as a repeat set from an in-goal dropout. This would also have a similar physiological and field position effect. If one team started doing this all the others would be forced to follow, if of course they believed in the possession model I speak of.
Thirdly, and probably most controversial, is the scrum. If you wanted to shake up the competition as a coach I would start by showing your players how to push in the scrum. The league scrum has become a way of holding six players to give others the ability to play a set move. That’s it. It is the evolutionary remnant of a past age, just like redundant legs on a snake.
The first response to this request would be one of safety. Fair enough, it probably would be unsafe the first few times because the other team would not expect the push. However, like the short kick-off, this play comes out every now and again out of desperation. It’s legal and acknowledged by all as a way to regain possession when it’s most needed.
Isn’t possession of the ball the main thing in the game?
At the moment scrums are not viewed as anything of great importance. It is clear the modern athletic body types of league players have developed more agility and mobility. I think a move back to specific body types for specific positions is probably not the direction the game wants to go in the future.
However, pushing in the scrum more often and actually coaching it – as an option not purely from a position of desperation – would bring some diversity to the game it surely needs.
They say possession is nine tenths of the law, but I would like to see some innovation in the game of league. A bit of change never hurt anyone, especially if a return to former glory is all that’s needed.
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