Players rather than coaches will dictate how the NRL’s experiment with a change to the kick-off rule is conducted when Brisbane and Melbourne road-test it for the first time on Thursday night.
Rugby league could be getting a glimpse into its future when the match between last year’s grand finalists is played under a new rule giving the team that concedes points the option to either kick off or receive the football from the resumption.
The rule tweak will be trialled in matches with no bearing on the finals over the remainder of the season, beginning with Thursday night’s Storm-Broncos clash at Suncorp Stadium.
The change could result in fewer blowouts, given the scoring team won’t necessarily retain possession after the re-start. Much will come down to the tactics employed, although it’s expected the decisions will be made on the field rather than in the coach’s box.
“We will very much leave it to [captain] Harry [Grant] to make the call,” said Melbourne’s director of football, Frank Ponissi.
“The proposed way it’s going to be handled by the NRL – and we agree with this – the referee will immediately ask the captain what he would like to do. He won’t have any time to get any decision from the coaches via the trainer or any other way, it will be very similar to the captain’s challenge.
“We will trust our captain, our players and leaders on the field to come up with the right decision at the time …
“[Not having coaching input] is a good thing, and we support that. It gets rid of delays in the game, otherwise you’re waiting for the trainer to run on and get a message. The last thing we want as a game is stoppages like that … Ultimately, it’s fantastic we’re letting the players decide what they are doing.”
Troy Thomson, Brisbane’s manager of football operations, said the rule tweak would provide a lever that could allow momentum to be shifted.
“We’ll brief the players and the captain in particular, working through different scenarios,” Thompson said. “If you get scored on, you probably want to get the footy back, particularly if you are chasing points as well. It will depend on the circumstances. If it’s the back end of the game, your tactics and strategy will be very different at the start of the game. It will be quite situational.
“It adds another level of strategy for the players.”
A point of interest will be whether a team chasing points opts to receive the ball or instead attempts to regather it from a short kick-off. It could also pose a dilemma for teams in front as the clock winds down.
“If you’re protecting a lead with not long to go, sometimes territory is better than possession,” Ponissi explained. “You may as well kick it down [the field], especially with how teams are doing short kick-offs so well. You’d run the threat of losing the ball and giving very good attacking position to the opposition.”
The NRL will have a relatively small sample size before deciding to implement the change permanently from next season. The only other confirmed trial in a “dead rubber” is the final-round clash between the Eels and Dragons.
“I’m going to want the ball back in my hands if we’ve been scored against to stop the momentum,” said Dragons captain Damien Cook.
“A team like Penrith that are very good at their yardage D [defence], they might see a chance to kick off again, lock them back in there and get good field position straight away …
“If you’re a team in front and dominating the game, you may want to kick off again. If you’ve got the momentum against you, you probably want the ball back in your hands.”
The merits of the change have divided the game. While seven-time premiership-winning coach Wayne Bennett has been a vocal proponent, others believe it is unnecessarily tampering with the fabric of the game.
Speaking on Nine’s 100% Footy, Phil Gould and Paul Gallen said they wanted the status quo to remain.
“Honestly, this is ridiculous,” Gallen said. “We don’t need all these rule changes. The game’s been so good for such a long time, I don’t get this one.”
Gould said that when made in the Super League, the change had only made blowouts worse.
“If you win the toss in a big game, what’s the first thing you say? We’ll kick off. Why? Because it’s easier to get down the other end,” Gould said. “Now you’re going to make it harder for the other team to get down the end.”
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