What changes would you like to see?

[OXY-351]

A few rounds in to the new season. Imo there's been a few changes for the better (eg, use fo video ref) and some for the worse(eg, shoulder charge). What other changes would you like?

For me, I'd love to see them get rid of the stripping rule. There are far too many dubious calls because of it. A team should be made to value possesion. At the moment it seems too one sided towards the attackiogn team. They can be looking to offload, have poor ball security and lose the ball, yet more often than not be rewarded with a penatly if they do. I think it would make it a lot simpler if the player in possesion loses the ball forward through a legal tackle, then it's ruled play on.

I'd also like to see refs stop "coaching" teams so much. Calling when to let go of a player, when to take drop kicks, when the ball is out of the scrum, when to take 20m taps etc. Just penalise players if they don't play to the rules.

 

[ningnangnong]

I'd also like to see refs stop "coaching" teams so much. Calling when to let go of a player, when to take drop kicks, when the ball is out of the scrum, when to take 20m taps etc. Just penalise players if they don't play to the rules.

The thing with this that really annoys me, is when the player is offside and about to get involved, but the ref calls them out! If you can't follow the rules, you deserve to be penalised, not given a chance.

That said, I guess it means we see less penalties, which is kind of a good thing in my book!

 

[th3m33k]

The change I would like to see made is when the ball is dead (over a knock on or the ball being kicked out, etc.) the clock should stop, I hate seeing a game (e.g. Bulldogs vs Storm) being finished whilst the ball is still dead. Stop the clock and we get to see some more nail-biters, which is what I think everyone would like to see .... unless it's against the Broncos.

 

[Kimlo]

Agreed I think every time the ball is out of play the timer should stop. We lose so much game time to stoppages.

 

[Coxy]

Agreed I think every time the ball is out of play the timer should stop. We lose so much game time to stoppages.

Yes, but then the game might vary from 90 minutes to 120 minutes depending on how often it gets kicked out. The TV networks won't know how much advertising to sell.

Yes, I'm serious, that'd come into the equation...

 

[Kimlo]

I did figure that in, in which case we could adopt a soccer (come at me football fans!) approach and go with injury time (wasted time rather) where we know it's never really more than 5-8 minutes.

 

[th3m33k]

I think the dead ball rule works in many sports already that attract more people to the stadiums than ours (e.g. AFL, NFL, NBA). So, yes the advertising may come into the equation, but I think that will generate more income for the TV/Radio/Internet, which, in turn means more money for the NRL at large. What if, at State of Origin, the scores were within a try and the losing side had a drop out coming with only 44 seconds on the clock! Give 'em a chance!

 

[Je$ter]

The change I would like to see made is when the ball is dead (over a knock on or the ball being kicked out, etc.) the clock should stop, I hate seeing a game (e.g. Bulldogs vs Storm) being finished whilst the ball is still dead. Stop the clock and we get to see some more nail-biters, which is what I think everyone would like to see .... unless it's against the Broncos.

The ball is only in play for about 55 minutes. Games would go on forever.

 

[OXY-351]

Yeah, I think if you're going to call time off when the ball is dead, you also need to reduce the length of the game from 80 minutes. An 80 minute game with time offs would probably be the same as increasing the current game time to ~110 mins. I think the players would struggle with that.

 

[Coxy]

I think it'd be ok if the ball is dead in goal, but not other stoppages (scrums etc). Calling time off for balls dead in goal would help some time wasting taking drop outs

 

[Ari Gold]

Just make it so it only comes into effect the last 10 mins of a half.

 

[Coxy]

Just make it so it only comes into effect the last 10 mins of a half.

Nah I hate the suggestion of that. Rules that apply at particular parts of the game are silly. It's why I hate Golden point. The rule interpretations are, whether deliberate or otherwise, completely different to the preceding 80 minutes.

 

[Kimlo]

Well reduced allowed time, such as 30 seconds max for a drop out, 20 seconds max for a scrum, etc. That way you get a much better guestimate of how long a game might possibly go for.

 

[Big Pete]

I'm a big fan of the 'dead' time concept. The innovation alone would increase tv revenue by a couple 100K and it would give fans exactly what they want. It'd also take away time wasting tactics which take away from the excitement of a contest.

- Scrap golden point
- Take away the kick for touch option on penalties
- Refs. to get into position as soon as possible for the quick taps
- Origin bye weekends