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Opinion

Peter V'landys has killed the contest

Roar Guru
1st June, 2021
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Roar Guru
1st June, 2021
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Let me get this out of the way at the outset: I 110 per cent back the NRL’s crackdown on head-high tackles.

As a fan of both rugby league and union, I watched the latter gradually make movement in this area some time ago. I still remember a frail, Australian-born former All Black Steve Devine appearing on 60 Minutes and discussing his experience with concussion and what life was like for him following retirement. It was sad and shocking viewing and stories like this and the litigation pressure on the NFL meant that change was soon on the way.

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Once it became very clear what the expectations were and what the outcome of high contact was, rugby union got on with the game. That’s not to say that referees didn’t (and still don’t) make bad calls and there aren’t those line-ball decisions with mitigating circumstances that could see the decision go either way. But that’s sport.

Once I became desensitised to the new interpretations in rugby union, I found myself cringing at the countless occasions when a blind eye was turned to high contact in rugby league unless it was an instance of a player’s face being mashed over an opponent’s swinging arm.

All of that said, what has to be understood about the subsequent uproar that followed the crackdown is the dynamic and somewhat turbulent nature of the current landscape. Peter V’landys and his team have only recently embedded new rules that have had the greatest impact on the way the game is played in at least my 37 years of following it.

Victor Radley is sent to the sin bin.

(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

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The goal of these new rules is simple: speed and more ball in play that also imposes greater fatigue on players, which is an equation that it was hoped would lead to a more open and free-flowing game. There’s little doubt that after 12 rounds of the 2021 NRL season, this goal has been achieved.

But what’s the bi-product of this? Well, for starters, it’s now a game of momentum. When the wind is in your sails, it’s harder to be stopped and easy to quickly pile on some points. Blowouts and games that are over before halftime are as common as they’ve ever been in the NRL era and you only have to listen to the fan noise to understand this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Some support the more open style of game despite it leading to more dominant victories, but there’s a fair chunk of us rugby league fans who are turned off.

I could go on listing out the ramifications of the new rule changes, but that’s an article for another day and it’s this point that I’ll draw back to the high-tackle debate. The new interpretation for high contact that came into play over Magic Round has just slammed another nail into the coffin that was known as the contest.

Since the post-COVID return in 2020, the game has continued to produce more and more lopsided results. It’s in this environment that V’landys has decided to unleash another rule interpretation that has the potential to further shift the balance of a game towards a team that’s on top and beyond the grasp of a team that’s trying to stay in the contest.

Tino Fa'asuamaleaui

(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Rugby league is not an easy game to play a man or two down. With 13 players on the field per team, the impact of losing a player is more significant when compared to its tighter 15-a-side cousin that is played on the same sized field. Losing a player in rugby league is tougher than losing a player in rugby union. And in a game that has recently changed its fabric to the benefit of the more dominant team, it’s another shift that makes the contest increasingly rare.

Then we’re being sold the message that this is purely for player safety and looking out for their best interests. That’s undeniable and again, I can’t dispute that a game with less high contact is a safer one. But to reintroduce the earlier rule changes once more, this is also in an environment where we’re actively introducing rules that encourage speed and put players under greater fatigue.

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What’s also undeniable (and Sports Science 101) is that greater fatigue equals a greater chance of injury. How does that align with the player safety message? Fatigue also equals a greater chance of poor decision-making such as initiating high contact with an attacking player.

For whatever reason, Paul Kent and James Hooper have been V’landys’ attack dogs in the media and have effectively backed him to the hilt. It was interesting hearing them talking about potential Origin selection on Triple M recently and how the teams would have to reflect the fact that rugby league is now a young man’s game. How exactly does that align with what’s in the best interests of the players?

We have a game where players are as fatigued as ever, which results in an increased likelihood of injury. Meanwhile players are also being phased out of the game earlier because it’s harder to keep up with older legs. Can you understand some of apprehensions that Clint Newton and the RLPA have around V’landys and his ways of working?

ARLC Chairman Peter V’landys

(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

But I’m not going to end this piece on a negative. I like to think I’m a reasonably positive, up-beat kind of chap and I’d like to introduce some solutions on the back of my long-winded rant – at least when it comes to having our cake and eating it with less high contact and addressing the lopsided encounters that can potentially come with a send-off-riddled game.

What I don’t particularly like about the current system is that someone’s brain fart can have such a deep impact on the team and therefore the result of a game. What I suggest is that if high contact is made, fine – they go. Actually, don’t even bring them back regardless of the severity. It’s high, they hit the showers and have a date with the judiciary the following week to determine exactly how significant their punishment is, but in that game an immediate on-field replacement is made.

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The results: the player is immediately ejected, which certainly represents a punishment that will encourage them to go low. The team is inconvenienced with a player removed from their bench but the contest remains 13 on 13 – a level playing field.

This also makes it really clear cut for the referees. There’s no determining whether a high contact is a sin bin or send off, which can also have significant ramifications for the game depending on when the offence occurs. The guilty player is simply removed from the game, but their team isn’t put in the position where they’re significantly disadvantaged and fans aren’t forced to sit through another no-contest.

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