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Annesley: NRL stripping rule under the microscope

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12th August, 2019
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The NRL will review the one-on-one strip rule at the end of the NRL season but head of football Graham Annesley says there’s no guarantee it will change.

Brought in at the start of last year, coaches have began using the law which allows defenders to drop off tackles before the last remaining player pinches the ball.

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson claimed on Sunday that referees were finding it hard to judge, echoing similar calls from Warriors mentor Stephen Kearney last month.

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart also complained referees were having to “guess” if the second tackler had dropped off in time, despite his team becoming the best exponent of the law.

And Annesley admitted it would be looked at come the end of the season by the competition committee.

“I’m sure it will be (looked at). I’m not suggesting it will be thrown out. We will look at these things in light of how they evolve,” Annesley said.

“We will get the competition committee together and we’ll look at everything that happened across the season and we will consider all those views.

“Whether it can be continued to refereed to the standard that we expect and whether it adds excitement.

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“Or is it something that has now got out of hand and we need to adjust it?”

Robinson also argued it was unfair to ball carriers, who who were unaware they were going to become susceptible to a rake as they fought off being wrestled in a three-man tackle.

However, proponents of the law argue that it places more onus on ball security from the attacking player.

“This is not a new rule. This interpretation ran all through last year, and barely a murmur. But coaching has now adapted to it,” Annesley said.

“It does bring a lot of unpredictability into our play and many people would see it as a great part of the game.”

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