The NRL’s new era of high-scoring action is producing fast-paced contests with more tries than ever, but commentators and fans are asking if this is the rugby league they know and love.
With a new TV deal on the horizon, the NRL has aimed to make the games entertaining, free-flowing and high-scoring in an effort to show an appealing product to broadcasters.
But do more tries necessarily mean better rugby league?
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Friday night’s game between Cronulla and the North Queensland Cowboys showcased the bruise-free nature of the rugby league being played this year.
The Cowboys waltzed in nine tries, and the Sharks scored six of their own as North Queensland claimed a 46-34 win, their fifth from the past six games.
There was not a lot of defence happening in Townsville and it prompted a discussion over whether the rule changes introduced this season had led to an improved product.
“I’ve got a deep question. I don’t know if this is the time to ask,” Fox League commentator Dan Ginnane said.
“There two sections (of fans) watching this. People who say ‘This is fun, this is close, this is tense’.
“Then there’s a section of people, they’ll be watching but they’ll be thinking this is not the rugby league I love.”
Ginnane asked: “Is this good rugby league?
Michael Ennis replied: “It’s entertaining rugby league. I see myself as a traditionalist.
He added: “I love seeing tries, don’t get me wrong. But I love the defensive element and seeing players just work for each other, and constantly turn up and compete together.
“I’m not saying we’re not seeing that. But at the moment, there are so many points in the game, the game’s so quick that sides are under sheer fatigue, can’t do what they were once able to do.”
Ginnane said: “The audiences have never been higher, the crowds have never been bigger, people are obviously flocking to these games.
“But it is a different brand to what we’re used to.”
The NRL tweaked the six again rule on the eve of the season in an effort to reduce stoppages and create faster play.
The threshold for six again (set restarts) for minor infringements is extended to anywhere beyond the 20-metre line, replacing the previous 40-metre rule.
Matty Johns believes the six again tweak has had a major impact on the way rugby league is being played in the NRL this year.
“In the history of modern rugby league, there’s been three or four occasions where there’s been a little rule adjustment that we didn’t think a lot of that had a significant effect on the game and who dominated games,” he said on the Sunday Night with Matty Johns Show. “Throughout rugby league history, it happens, occasionally the competition gets turned on its head.
“We’ve underestimated the 20-40 rule with the six-again, where there’s no penalties unless it’s in your own quarter.”
Johns wondered if the faster game style had taken a toll on the Melbourne Storm, who have traditionally looked to control the ruck.
“That has made the game so continuous, it’s added another layer of fatigue and speed to the game,” Johns said.
“Maybe they’re just struggling to adapt to it (Storm).”
In his recent press conferences, Storm coach Craig Bellamy has been at a loss for answers to explain his side’s uncharacteristic defeats.
The veteran coach said he had never been as “embarrassed” as he was after watching the Storm get demolished by the Rabbitohs 48-6 in Melbourne on ANZAC Day.
The Storm are missing Ryan Papenhuyzen, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Jonah Pezet, Xavier Coates, Eli Katoa and Tui Kamikamica.
But the sudden decline of Bellamy’s team could be as simple as the new six-again rule means the game is played so fast now the Storm can no longer manipulate the ruck.
Teams have scored 50 points or more on six occasions this season. Conceding a half-century has traditionally ruled a team out of contending for the premiership, but that may not be the case in this new era.
In the last two rounds, only one losing team has been kept to single digits.
TV viewership remains high, and strong crowds continue to turn up to watch the NRL.
In round 8, a record 222,170 attended the weekend’s games, breaking the previous aggregate crowd record of 218,333 in round 7 last year.
