Rugby league’s foundations are based around toughness and competition. This considered, it’s hardly a surprise that the ancestors who set the groundwork, along with the fans around to witness earlier renditions, long for better days.
With ever-changing rules seeing a complete transformation of the game in the last 15 years, improved product has come at the expense of the game’s more traditional elements.
First and foremost
Rugby league isn’t ‘soft’.
Seriously, this is a collision sport. Take a close look at what happens each play – athletes who train year-round charge full pelt into one another, momentum only broken when they come into contact with one another. Don’t kid yourself.
A case could be made that the outright toughness in the game has been reduced. Fair point, league isn’t played with the bewildering toughness of the earlier generations, but to make a case that the game as a whole hasn’t improved considerably is ignorant.
In terms of ability, skills and complexity, there is no comparison, but…
The times they are a-changin’
In a vacuum, aggression is terrific. To channel the inner drive into a physical response that assists your team is a great concept. Back in the day, this was commonplace.
In contemporary rugby league, it ain’t that easy.
Consider the evolution of the front rower. Notorious hard men, once simply battering rams and metre-eaters, they now often play first receiver and ignite back-line movements. It now isn’t far-fetched to see a big man with the silky skills of a half. Only a small example of how different the game is.
To adapt to these changes, there has been a reworking in structures, thus altering the role required from different positions. The classic brute is being displaced by more versatile options because they are simply more valuable.
There’s a reason for it.
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Aggression is a myth
Little secret: the impact of aggressive play is overstated.
We embrace the characters of the game, those who wear their hearts on the sleeve and die with each play. They usually rank somewhere near the top of ‘most entertaining’ discussions, and players clearly lift when their teammates take the energy to another level.
But where Josh Reynolds has won games for the Bulldogs through a never-say-die play, backing up a runner or chasing an errant kick, a frustrated player looking to make up for a mistake often pushes up inside the ten, conceding a penalty that piggybacks the opposition into good field position.
The duality of the trait needs to be respected.
Overzealousness often leads to errors in judgement. Players who push out of the line hoping to invigorate the defence with a big shot are playing with fire. Good teams are so clinical that any hole in the defence will put your team at a disadvantage. Teams work entire gameplans around opening holes in the line, so aggressive defensive plays carry particular momentous consequences.
That’s just in a tactical sense – accidentally land a high shot or work the player over on the ground and not only do you face a penalty, there’s the risk of suspension.
When asked about aggression, James Graham articulated it perfectly: “Kick pressure and kick-chase.”
Spot on. Things haven’t really changed all that much, it’s just a redirection of the same old virtues. Black is the new black.
Controlled aggression, picking spots where the risk is minimised and the outcome is constructive, holds more value then aimlessly trying really hard.
Teams are here to win, not entertain you – the hope is the process is fun to witness.
Safety is a concern
While we don’t regularly acknowledge it, and it may be hard to believe watching them persistently charging into one another, these are human beings. People with families and lives away from the field. Most importantly, people who need to carry on functioning after the dust has settled.
We further our knowledge every year of the long-term effects of injuries and concussions, and while there’s still more to uncover, we’re at the point where naivety is no longer acceptable.
Yes, players are aware of the risk that comes with a football career. The responsibility of the league’s rule-makers is to ensure everything is done to minimise risk.
That’s how we arrived here. Shoulder charges are fun, but when they go wrong they are downright dangerous. The trade-off isn’t worth the uncertainty. Risking players’ health and safety would be downright negligent.
Think of the children!
Actually, think of the parents.
Injury risk is much higher in league compared to rival codes and the fear of having a child knocked out is enough to turn people off playing the game.
This is heavy thinking for the common fan, but it sheds some light on why the NRL has knuckled down on safety.
Juniors have further stipulations to mitigate risk, but naturally everything filters down from the top. Young players will mimic the professional game and parents will only be familiar with the rules set in the top grade. There is a social responsibility as well as forethought about the growth of the game.
H-h-hold me back
This gets a category of its own. I was lucky enough to witness Paul Gallen versus Nate Myles in person. I’ll admit, it was thrilling. This is the stuff of legends – two of the game’s notorious hard men facing off, with Myles eating a left and right from Gallen, without as much as a stumble.
Incredible. It was also a line in the sand moment for the NRL.
Well, State of Origin remains the game’s biggest event, and the day after the game (and week leading into the next game) all the talk and footage surrounding the match centred on the fight. It’s not a good look.
Talk started about a square-up and what Queensland might have in store for Gal come Game 2.
Forced to find a boundary, the NRL brought in the automatic sin-bin rule (which is total BS because this was always the rule, it was simply never enforced, but anyway) to much outrage.
How will feuds ever be levelled! What will players do when they are roughed up?
Go back to playing football
Aside from it being completely against the spirit of the game, it presents a giant safety issue, and creates the aforementioned ripple effect on the game’s other investments.
Problem is, what we have now might just be worse.
The ‘fights’ that break out in the post-Gal-punch era are nothing more than time wasting dance-offs.
Seriously, it’s not fighting and it’s not enjoyable to watch. There is simply no longer a place in the game for these tensile melees to break out every time a player feels like it.
How can it be fixed?
It’s simple: outlaw all intentional contact between opposing players.
Walking over and slapping a grounded opponent is as negligent as punching one in the face. ‘Jersey jabbing’ should illicit the same penalty as throwing a clean punch.
Many have suggested outlawing taunting, in the same vein as the NFL. That is a step in the right direction, and the fortunate aspect is being able to build upon their already existing rule. The NFL taunting rule includes excessive celebrations which, while a necessary rule for them, doesn’t really hold any value for us.
No stipulation needs to be placed on celebrating with your teammates, but saluting an error with four or five players going over to rub the opposing player over the head (a common practice) that results in a few minutes delay while a scuffle breaks out, yeah, we can do without that.
What’s the end game? Cutting all the extra-curicular stuff and fleshing out the game. This simply can’t happen until more stringent rules are put in place.
Luckily the powers that be are proactive, not reactive… oh, wait…
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