Wayne Bennett has backed the NRL’s controversial six again policy, with the veteran South Sydney coach not wanting to see the wrestle return to rugby league after the code “suffered for over a decade” with the speed of the game being bogged down.
Bennett’s comments come a day after Raiders counterpart Ricky Stuart said “we’ve lost the fabric of the game” due to the rule change which has led to higher scores and a frenetic pace of play.
The decision to now award set restarts rather than traditional penalties for ruck infringements and players being offside from beyond the 20-metre line has received plenty of hate online, but the game’s longest-serving coach prefers it to the alternative.
“Well I’ve expressed my views before and they really haven’t changed, and there’s no doubt it’s a game-changer,” Bennett said.
“And you know, we’ve got a game that’s full of entertainment right now, some wonderful tries being scored, some great ball movement.
“Do we go back to when we had wrestle and we had all the other terms for different types of tackles that were making the whole game bog down? I don’t want to go back to that.
“We suffered for over a decade with that and I don’t want to go back there, so if we find an answer for not having the six again then I’d be happy, but the reality of it is the onus is back on the players.
“The players are always playing on the edge with the rules and this is one they really can’t play on the edge with because it really hurts your team.”
The master coach will hope to see a disciplined performance from his side on Saturday night against the winless Dragons where livewire fullback Matt Dufty will play his first NRL game in four years after a stint in the UK Super League.
First choice fullback Jye Gray will be sidelined for a few weeks with an AC joint injury, with Bennett opting to bring in Dufty against his old team rather than move Latrell Mitchell from left centre.
“I’m really pleased for him,” Bennett said.
“He came home from Warrington there a bit earlier than expected to and made contact with us and we’re happy to have him.
“(Assistant coach) Ben Hornby spent a long time coaching him as well, so we knew what to expect on the field as well as off the field, so it’s good.”
The decision to not move Mitchell to fullback came as a surprise to some given he’s spent so much time in the role, but Bennett didn’t want to tinker with his squad too much given David Fifita (hamstring) will be missing from the left edge.
“That was based on the fact that Jye will be back in a couple of weeks, probably two to three weeks max, so do I change one position or do I change four positions to put Latrell back at fullback?” Bennett explained.
“That really wasn’t an option for me with only two or three weeks.
“If Jye had been out for a lot longer I might have made a different decision, but next couple of weeks I think we can get the job done there and it makes us more stable in our backline because these guys are playing together each week, and I think any coach in the game wants his players to play together as much as they possibly can.
“I don’t see a world where he (Mitchell) won’t go back there (to fullback).
“It was only a decision we made this year because we believed it was in the best interest of the club, and we made this decision again because I believe it’s in the best interest of the team that we have one new guy coming in rather than moving the whole backline around.”
Fifita is expected to miss three or four weeks with his hamstring injury, while powerhouse prop Keaon Koloamatangi is playing through the pain of a knee injury.
“He’s a bit restricted as well. We probably need a week off for him, but we just can’t do it at the moment,” Bennett said.
“I’ve got five forwards sitting in rehab at the moment with injuries and won’t be back for a couple of weeks, we’ll probably get Junior Tatola back next week, so we just need a bit of relief there and have to hang on a little bit longer for Keaon.”
