Re: The way the game is evolving in the NRL. : Sun Dec 14, 2014 7:18 pm  

Daryl Clark is only 91kg. Size isn't everything.

Re: The way the game is evolving in the NRL. : Sun Dec 14, 2014 9:13 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

It's good that the number of runs from dummy half is coming down, but it needs to reduce a lot more. Let's get back to having dummy halves that can make space with accurate passes allowing creative half backs that little more space and time.

Why does it need to come down? Because you want it to? Teams will play to a player's strengths and if one of a hooker's strengths is his running from dummy half then so be it. You can't complain about it, it's part of the modern game and will remain so. It's effective in making metres and getting on the front foot IMO.

Re: The way the game is evolving in the NRL. : Tue Dec 16, 2014 11:38 am  

SecondRowSaint wrote:

Why does it need to come down? Because you want it to? Teams will play to a player's strengths and if one of a hooker's strengths is his running from dummy half then so be it. You can't complain about it, it's part of the modern game and will remain so. It's effective in making metres and getting on the front foot IMO.

Because it's the ultimate one man rugby and invariably comes from a ball that isn't played with the foot (artificial speeding up of the game) I don't mind the scoot and pass as that opens up the game but the scoot and get tackled is not for me.
Many years ago a rule was trialled whereby if the dummy half was tackled in possession then it was a scrum with head and feed to the defensive side. I would like to see that reintroduced but with a handover.

And I would like to see penalties given against players who don't play the ball with their foot. I can't remember which t.v game it was but four of the first six tries scored came from incorrect ptb's

Re: The way the game is evolving in the NRL. : Tue Dec 16, 2014 12:35 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

And I would like to see penalties given against players who don't play the ball with their foot. I can't remember which t.v game it was but four of the first six tries scored came from incorrect ptb's

I see where you are coming from, and I think you'd have a lot of support, not least from Eddie and Stevo who seem to bang on about it every week, but I would argue that one of the great things about modern RL is the speed at the PTB. Enforcing the law in that way would only serve to slow the game down and to no beneficial effect.

Personally I don't care about the PTB, it doesn't improve the game's appeal if done correctly. The refs have enough to do without trying to see if a stud has brushed the ball on the way through. I mean, sky would probably have fun attaching something like cricket's 'snicko' to every players boot in order to see if the PTB was correct.

Re: The way the game is evolving in the NRL. : Thu Dec 18, 2014 2:28 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

Many years ago a rule was trialled whereby if the dummy half was tackled in possession then it was a scrum with head and feed to the defensive side. I would like to see that reintroduced but with a handover.

Well, it's an idea. I have a horrible feeling if it was brought back now though then the markers would be attempting to rush the dummy half at every opportunity, resulting in a mixture of penalties and poor-quality passing.

Re: The way the game is evolving in the NRL. : Mon Dec 22, 2014 11:52 pm  

The NRL is on a seemingly interminable move towards bigger and more athletic players. I don't think its where we're at now that's the problem , but potentially where it will end up.

NRL forwards are getting massive. The younger Burgii are almost 19 stone apiece, Kasiano is almost 21 stone. They've been a big success so all sides are looking to find simlar players. We're also seeing small agile wingers almost vanish from the game, replaced by big, quick lads who are strong in the air as much as running. Souths won the comp this year in large part because they replaced an undersized threequarter line with 4 big strong players.

I think that's why there's a concern - if you follow this path to its logical conclusion, we'll someday wonder why there's no such thing as a halfback, as they'll all be 15 stone plus second rowers who can move the ball on and aren't a complete liability in defence.