I well remember the 1980s, when great kickers like Wally Lewis and Peter Sterling mastered the art of the boot, sending the ball downfield with pinpoint precision to find touch.
In the 1990s, the art was refined even further by legends such as Ricky Stuart and Andrew Johns, their long raking kicks rolling over the sideline to gain big metres and a little respite for the big men.
And like all rugby league fans of the era, I remember watching these booted wizards ply their trade and thinking, ‘How revolting’.
For even as a youngster I understood that the art of kicking for touch was a foul blight on the game that held it back from becoming a truly great sport.
Every time Lewis or Sterling or Stuart or even, heaven help us, Craig Coleman found touch with an inch-perfect punt, my stomach heaved and my soul rebelled at this perversion of rugby league’s noble spirit.
Wayne Pearce played with and against those great kickers, so it’s no wonder it was he who came up with the excellent idea of punishing anyone who kicks the ball into touch with a seven-tackle set to the opposing team.
And it is obviously very sad that, for now at least, the NRL has decided not to trial the new rule. Indeed, it’s sad that they didn’t go further and ban kicking for touch entirely. We live in hope that the idea will be given life in the not too distant future.
But that doesn’t mean that Pearce, or indeed anyone who cares about the future of the NRL, should give up on constantly trying to improve the game.
After all, the lifeblood of rugby league is its fans, and the most fervent desire of fans is that league should be agile and versatile at all times.
As such, if the discouragement of touch-finding hasn’t found favour just yet, here are a few more suggestions as to how rugby league can be improved in the near future. If the committee signs off on these, they can be put into practice hopefully as soon as next week.
1. Ban offloads
The reason that Pearce’s idea was so exciting – just like the end of of contested scrums, prohibition on markers striking in the play-the-ball, and so forth – was that it would remove a skill from the game.
In general this should be the aim of all rule-makers: to streamline the sport by reducing to the bare minimum the number of skills that players are able to demonstrate.
Rugby league is a game of running, passing, and tackling. It is not a game of passing-while-being-tackled.
Offloads slow the game down by making everyone sit around and wait while the tackled player gets an arm free, and detract from the spectacle of rugby league as it was meant to be played: players running into tacklers, playing the ball, and repeating the process.
The game will be far faster and more attractive without them.
2. Ban markers
Why is it that, with the very sensible ten-metre rule in place, we for some reason grant exemptions to two defenders, who are allowed to stand right in front of the play-the-ball?
What on earth is the justification for allowing two members of the defending team to encroach within the ten metres?
The presence of markers means that when the dummy-half runs, they are often confronted by tacklers almost immediately – dreadfully unfair.
If we get rid of markers, requiring all defenders to retreat the full ten metres before any involvement in play, we will open up more opportunities for dummy-half running, i.e. rugby league in its purest form.
We will also cut down on the necessity for the dummy half to pass the ball, which increases the risk of handling errors, which slow the game down and make for an unpleasant viewing experience for the spectator.
More room for dummy-halves = more dummy-half runs = a faster game with fewer mistakes = happy fans!
3. Ban cut-out passes
Not only do cut-out passes travel further than other passes, making them more prone to misdirection and therefore errors, slowing the game down and making everything messy.
They are also essentially a form of cheating, as they do not allow defences to know with any reliability who the next pass is going to. For the sake of fairness as well as game neatness, they have to go.
4. Ban high kicks
The so-called ‘bomb’ has been spoiling our game since the 1970s. These days not a single game is played that isn’t slowed down horribly while we all wait for these ugly kicks to come down from the heavens.
It’s time to cut these interminable waits out of the game: no kick to be allowed that ascends higher than the kicker’s own head. Let’s get this game moving, for goodness’ sake!
5. Next score wins
In order to make games closer and therefore more entertaining, the referee will have discretion, should the margin grow too large, at any time during a game to declare ‘next score wins’, thus injecting tension and excitement into the contest.
These are just suggestions, and no doubt the NRL has plenty of ideas of its own. Whatever rule changes they go with, the important thing is that they do keep changing.
Don’t let the rules stagnate, don’t let the game settle into a boring routine.
Keep changing the rules, keep changing the game, keep the players constantly off-balance, make sure that nobody ever knows from week to week what rules they’re playing by.
It’s called ‘keeping things fresh’. It’s the greatest weapon rugby league has in its arsenal.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
1. Ban offloads This was tried in the old days of unlimited tackles. I got this from Tony Collins’ History of Rugby League. But the most obvious problem was that it gave the team in possession the option to completely monopolise possession, simply by the dummy half not passing or kicking. One of the most infamous examples of the ‘creeping barrage,’ as it became known was at the 1951 Championship semi-final. A twelve-man Workington Town were defending an 8-5 lead against Wigan when Town’s captain-coach Gus Risman ordered his players not to pass or kick the ball for the last fifteen minutes of the match:
Kman
Roar Rookie
Careful, Ben, you could get a call from NRL recruitment officer shortly :laughing: great article
MPC
Guest
Why do charge downs still reset tackle counts? To me a poor kick does not deserve another set of 6
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
I'm just glad to be introduced to the term 'nose beer'
Ben Pobjie
Expert
That’ll take too long. Make it once a team gets in front by six.
up in the north
Roar Rookie
Reading junior's rationale for this suggested tweak of the rules, I was left wondering just how fast they want the game to be. Or more to the point, how long the ball is 'in play' do the great leaders want to see. It's like the accountants have decided the numbers and don't mind burning the product to get to a number that only they know. Everyone else can get stuffed. There is madness afoot.
Ian_
Roar Rookie
I'm all for abolishing the pointless scrum. To replace it, I propose the forwards stand in a circle, hold hands and count to 20, recite a poem (of the home team's choice) or sing the club song of the team whose half the stoppage is in. This would make about as much sense as scrums. Possible problem is that the count, recital or song is quite likely to take several minutes as some of the forwards struggle through them.
Short Memory
Guest
Best. Comment. Ever. You made me make nose beer. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
loosehead
Guest
How about a mercy rule. Once a team gets in front by 30+ the games is called.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
I forgive Pierce because I get the feeling that meetings like V'Landys are something like this: https://vimeo.com/337952622
Paul
Roar Guru
If it was me who came up with idea, those who know me would put it down to several schooners too many, but Junior doesn't even drink. Tough to come up with an excuse for sure.
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
I like the 2 tackle rule that'll tire them out fairly quickly.
Tony
Roar Guru
:laughing:
Tony
Roar Guru
:laughing:
Ben Pobjie
Expert
Playing too few?
Tony
Roar Guru
:laughing:
no one in particular
Roar Guru
If Pearce really wants to kill the game then all he has to do is bring in two more players and introduce lineouts
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
No, he's referring to what players do in public bathrooms.
Tony
Roar Guru
Do you mean several balls on the field at once?
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
What about banning line breaks? Like offloads they hold up the game :laughing: