Annersley has met with coaches, and sent officials to training, to discuss the forthcoming season:
“Coaches have been pushing the envelope more and more so. So it’s best to reset the standards now in training rather than on the field during matches. These are not rule changes but rather shifts in emphasis. "
“We are doing a reset, this is not a clamp down. The reason we are doing it now and the reason we have had a meeting with the coaches is we want them to fix these issues in training so that when we get to match day we don’t have to worry about it. There isn’t a blitz. If the coaches prepare their teams on this basis then they won’t have any concerns. It’s not our objective to start and stop the game and blowing penalties all over the field."
“There has always been a downtown rule but we need to bring attention back to it. Now a player from the kicker’s team cannot advance until the point where the ball goes over their head. They have to stay at least level with the ruck until then. In recent years when they knew their team was going to kick the ball they would tear down the field.”
The shift in focus includes:
* Removing ruck sleepers who keep the markers out of play
* No driving your teammate forward like a rugby-maul
* Relaxing restrictions on deliberate knock-ons
* Protecting players who jump to retrieve a bouncing ball
* Putting players on notice who lift the leg of an attacker who is already being held up by defenders.
* Greater emphasis on keeping the 10 metres and ruck compliance
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