Rugby league: What a game, what a shame

I'll attest to that... This man is a feral rabbit.... :silly:

The game is definitely in a transition stage but one thing remains constant.. the refs still have way too much control over the flow and more often than not the outcome of the game. I don’t have an answer for that and obviously the NRL don’t either but I’m assuming on field technology either isn’t being embraced by the NRL office or it hasn’t caught up with the game itself yet? I hate watching roosters give away deliberate penalties inside their 20.. I hate watching storm intentionally slow down the ruck.. I hate Cronulla blatantly offside defending their line.. I hate scrums (I mean wtf).. I hate watching one team unable to seize momentum when opposition is blatantly given far more latitude than deserved.. Until there is a resolution in on field technology we are just going to have to cop it unfortunately.

Consistency is overrated though and fans still complain when there is consistency. Just look at nearly every obstruction ruling where no one can agree on what's a penalty and what isn't.

How can you medically retire a player, Foran, who wants to keep on playing, who believes he has a couple of years left in him and (while he is rather injury-prone) does not have an injury that would prevent him playing in future? Thats a total misunderstanding of the cocept of 'career ending injury' - there must be no chance of playing again due to an injury that is new since the last contract signing. Cheers

If you put me in charge of the rules I would make some radical changes all with the goal of speeding the game up drastically. I did promise Tim Gore an article, I should probably write it

Can we please just have a 40 metre kick.

I ask myself this question: what excites me about our game? At the moment it’s the amazing athleticism of wingers scoring tries. A great catch under pressure. A classic one out tackle. Goal kicking with the game on the line. For me it is tries scored with loads of offloads and off the cuff play. After that it is a winger beating 4 or 5 defenders with footwork or acceleration. We don't really see either of those much anymore

I'll call it now, the 20/40 will be known as the NRLs Hail Mary. Giving up possession and field position on a risky kick... I'm still very apprehensive about the Capt Challenge but (potential) forward passes should be reviewed. Any decision will still be hotly debated but it should pull up the shocker.

Careful what you wish for Papi, this list removes most of Souths advantages.

Preferred the old 10m defensive line. 40/20 was good not so sure about the 20/40. Hate golden point, like it or not a draw is a result. The captain's challenge looks to be a great idea but referee referrals to the bunker should go if the challenge comes in. Agree on scrums and sides pushing but we all to often see a win against the feed being called back. If a team can push and get the ball, good on them. I wouldn't mind seeing the play the ball be competitive again. The old games on the tv showed what a great weapon this could be, Another change I would like to see is that if a captain's challenge is for a forward pass leading to a try then the bunker be allowed to adjudicate on this.

"what aspects of the game that you think the NRL need to address to keep it moving forward?" Consistency! Consistency in rulings and interpretation. Consistency in salary cap rules and auditing of clubs clearly over the "cock-a-doodle doo cap". Consistency in MRC and judiciary calls. Consistency in medical retirement calls. Consistency in enforcing player contracts and introducing a viable transfer window without allowing players to get out of contracts (except by mutual consent) when they have a year or more to run on their contractual obligations. Consistency in the NRL's vision and commitment to national expansion of the game instead of letting Perth wither on the vine and Brisbane hold the monopoly of an entire capital city exclusively as their own domain. That should go a long way to helping the game get back on a solid footing and heading in the right direction IMO.

Just get rid of the interchange rule ! It is the one change that has indirectly brought so many problems to our game . By eliminating the fatigue aspect from the game , the little nippy exciting players have virtually been eliminated from the game as they are continually steamrolled by 15 minute titans, right back from times in the juniors/ development years. Interchange allows for multiple players continually in tackles to wrestle on the ground & slow the play and eliminate the offloads , and in effect making it a more defensive focused game. Nowadays every player is out of the same explosive, musclebound mould, with the quicker players finding spots in the outside backs and the slower ones in the pack. Outside backs main role these days is to get the sets off to a strong start eating metres out of their own territory. The wingers need to eat up 200 metres in hit ups and leap for bombs. No need for speedy Ken Irvine types who would be buried under bombs. The spine players need to be tough and creative as they are targeted for 80 minutes. The halfbacks need to make 30 tackles a match on rampaging titans and still have enough energy to create opportunities with the ball. Only the very best can do this. Bring back fatigue by dumping the interchange, allowing some different body types to play and let the game open up again.

And to think I used to bag TB for his "War and Peace" length posts.

FT there are still problems with the rules and their interpretation. I've listed them at length before. They have not been addressed yet and a captain's challenge won't fix that. If they send a call for review and the officials are fundamentally mistaken about the interpretation of the rule (i.e. obstruction, grounding and separation, a double movement, a knock on etc) then the decision is not likely to be overturned. Beyond that the salary cap is a fiasco when one club can consistently be $2 mill over the salary cap and buy back to back paid for premierships and #sixagain calls. Meanwhile in recent years clubs like the Tigers, the Eels, the Sea Eagles, the Sharks and the Bulldogs have been hammered by the NRL for reportedly being over the salary cap for about $500K! Explain THAT inconsistency. Another glaring problem is the call on medical retirements. At present my Rabbitohs (TIGER) have benefited twice now on medical retirement calls while the Sea Eagles, Eels and other clubs have been dudded. Kieran Foran should have been allowed to be medically retired IMO. As far as I'm concerned so should Josh Dugan. Any player that has sustained chronic injuries from the game during their NRL careers should be eligible. I don't care about how old or recent the injury is. In a workers compensation case the employer doesn't get to avoid responsibility if the injury is recent or not. The NRL and not the clubs should be compensating players and taking care of their welfare without the player having to go cap in hand to the NRL. Ir's a disgrace when a billion dollar business can escape it's fundamental responsibilities concerning player welfare. It's rare these days that I find myself in agreement with Insider but in this case he is right. The game is NOT in a good place ATM. Not when there are so many dramas both on and off-field, and there are constant inconsistencies in rulings and with the MRC and judiciary, player's welfare issues are ignored and growth of the game nationally has stagnated while one club can continue to stockpile ill-gotten bogus premierships. #Dump Todd Greenberg #Make Rugby League Great Again

Yes, I am. I'm guessing you haven't read any of my posts before then. I'm one of the few profiles here that makes my NRL allegiance clear in just about everything I post.

No, in general it's pretty good. If they get Captains challenge right it can be better as well I believe. Ironically CC can lead to the game flowing more which isn't what people are expecting but more than one challenge could be needed.

Yep, cause in reality it’s not

Am I the only one who thinks Rugby League is in a good place (on field at least)?