Reduce the Regular Season

Poor crowds, I have the solution……………..

Reduce the Regular Season!

Don’t get me wrong I love my footy, but year round footy doesn’t sell tickets.

The NFL only plays 16 regular season games giving each team 8 home games. A shorter season would condense regular season crowds and increase interest in the game.

For years rep players have raised concern over the amount of football they play when including representative games. Reducing the regular season would provide a better window for representative football, an area that needs attention. It would be great to see better quality international football that hosts the games best players.

The main challenge of this approach is scheduling. With fewer rounds very few teams would play eachother twice, if any. Home ground advantage would play a vital role in which teams play footy come September. Arguably this would only further increase interest in homes games, with fans able to play a role in getting their team through to the finals.

Leave the fans wanting more!!!

Rebuilding the Knights

The last 4 games for the Newcastle Knights have been nothing short of horrendous, having conceded a whopping 179 points against and a mere 10 points for.

Regardless of whether or not you are a Knights supporter, the Knights situation is bad for NRL. It has gone beyond a “bad trot” to a real concern, I feel for the Knights staff, players and fans.

Experience

While it is important to bring through younger players, having them get annihilated every week is not going to do them any favours. We only need to look at Jarrod Mullen who was selected for NSW at 20 years old. Many figures criticised the selection, concerned for his long-term career. Mullen was dropped after only one game and in my opinion he failed to ever reach his true potential in the halves. There needs to be a balance of youth and experience in the red and blue.

Leadership

The Knights not only lack experience but more importantly LEADERSHIP, this is why there is no quick fix for the Knights. Bringing in a few leaders will give them the foundation to begin developing leaders from within the club.

Hard Decisions for the Future

With Jarrod Mullen’s career riddled with injuries it is time for the Knights faithful to make way for a new halves partner. Furthermore they need to look at the rest of the spine and bring some experience to Fullback and Hooker respectively. Any remaining funds should be spent bringing in a forward or two.

Halves

If Mullen retires at the completion of this season, I would be throwing everything at Corey Norman. With the Eel’s Salary Cap dramas they may not be able to compete for Normans signature.

Hooker

After signing Corey Norman, they need to lure Nathan Peats down from the Gold Coast at then end of next season. The pair already formed a solid combination at the Eels, getting them back together would all but complete their spine. Alternatively Cameron McInnes is proving rather handy for the Rabbits, should Tyler Randall fail to stamp his name on the No. 9 by the end of next season.

Fullback

Lure Valentine Homes away from the Sharks, by offering the No.1 spot at the Knights. He is not off contract until 2017, leaving Jaelen Feeney to fulfill his current contract.

Forwards

Hunting down Dene Haletau or Elijah Taylor from the Tigers to come in at lock replacing the retiring Jeremy Smith and going after Ethan Lowe at the expense of Tariq Sims for the 2016 season. There are plenty of good options coming off contract in 2017 to further strengthen the squad.

Additionally, Lachlan Maranta may be a good pick up to replace the outgoing James McManus for next season.

With 2016 well underway, there are few pickings left for the 2017 season. The Knights need to look at a 2-3 year plan, with major changes taking place for the 2018 season and the final touches being carried out in 2019.

International Rugby League

Are you interested, bored or on the fence?

Anyone who watched Samoa Vs. Tonga last Saturday night would understand how great International Football can be. Before play even commenced I had goose bumps watching the two sides death stare each other in a several minute standoff, before each team performed their native tribal dance.

A game that featured a lower completion rate than an under 9’s match, seemingly proved more entertaining than the Friday night Test Match between Australia and NZ. It was nothing short of passionate Origin like football, with a crowd singing like an English Premier League match.

International Football has ebbed and flowed like a tide throughout the 21^st century. It gets a mention every couple of weeks, enough to keep the flame going, but no one seems to be adding any fuel.

The Tonga Vs. Samoa match featured 33 players with NRL experience, which shows the abundance of Pacific Island players in Rugby League.

Developing and involving more countries would only benefit the NRL with the best international players striving to play in the pinnacle code, NRL. A supply of international players, playing in Australia would allow the NRL to look more seriously at expansion.

Seperating Representative Infringements

New Zealand and Broncos prop Adam Blair will miss the NRL Telstra Premiership clash with the Sea Eagles after taking an early guilty plea for a dangerous contact charge in the Test against the Kangaroos. Blair was charged with dangerous contact over a tackle on Kangaroos forward and Broncos teammate Sam Thaiday in the 62nd minute, and will serve a one-game ban with an early guilty plea.

Contrary conduct during a regular season round can rub a player out of Representative contention and as we have seen, the opposite. I imagine both Brisbane and Sam Thaiday would much prefer to have the charges dropped, allowing Blair to line up beside his victim this weekend.

It raises the question should Representative infringements be served separately?

Representative Rugby League should incorporate a separate demerit system, where infringements are served in Representative fixtures and not back in the NRL, and vice versa. The current system only disadvantages clubs who have representative players. We have seen the consequences in years past where clubs have pulled players out of City Country duty, taking away the risk of injury and suspension.

I believe Representative infringements should receive larger fines, and slightly reduced points. These are the game’s elite players, they can afford a few extra dollars for a Representative infringement. This system would also reduce the bias that becomes apparent during the Origin period, so many times we have seen the games elite seemingly receive and unexplainable lower grading for an infringement in the regular competition allowing them to line up for their respective State.  I firmly believe the rules do change when it comes to Origin (and International Rugby League) and the separate system would only see constant Rep offenders suspended from playing Rep footy.

A separate system would ensure the games best are always selected for Representative duties, and those that perhaps get caught in the heat of the moment during Representative fixtures do not carry the penalty back to their club team. After all it is Representative footy and the stakes and the passion are much higher.

 

 

 

 

Take 3 – Test Match

While the Test Match wasn’t the most entertaining game of footy I have seen here’s what I took from it.

Radradra Sin Bin

The Match Officials got the call exactly right. There was no way it was a penalty try, but it no doubt was a professional foul and deserved more than a penalty. It gave the Kiwis a chance to go on the attack, even though on the night they could not capitalize. I hope the decision sets the standard for the rest of the year.

 

Michael Morgan

Is Michael Morgan the best UTILITY player ever!

At 185cm and 92kg, you could arguably pick him in the run on side at Five Eight or Fullback. He is strong in the Centers and Wing and also makes a handy Lock/2^nd Rower. The only position he cannot fill is Front Row!

 

Josh Dugan & Blake Ferguson

Although the game somewhat failed to excite, there is a good news story in amongst it. Wind the clock back 3 years to when the right edge duo of Blake Ferguson and Josh Dugan almost ended their own careers with that infamous rooftop photo. It was great to see a major turning point in their careers and lives, lining up side by side in the Green and Gold.

Congratulations Men.

Culling Kangaroos for Joeys

Gus Gould made clear his opinion on the Australian side during the call on Friday night. There is no disputing the Australian side did not present their crisp, flawless selves of years past. Gus called for the retirement of “ageing incumbents” to allow for an injection of youth amongst the Green and Gold, ensuring Australia are contenders at the next World Cup. After watching the game it is pretty hard to dispute what the man is saying.

Still it would be hard to drop these “aging players”, when they still carry their club teams to victory week in and week out. Paul Gallen is a dominant force for the Sharks and also received Man of the Match in Friday night’s Test. I do not think the old Roos are playing bad but perhaps their stamina is not there in the late stages of Representative Competitions.

Below is my Australian side, made up of players 26 and under.

POSITION	INCUMBENT	AGE	REPLACEMENT	AGE
1	Darius Boyd	28	James Tedesco	23
2	Semi Radrada	23	Semi Radradra	23
3	Greg Inglis	29	Blake Ferguson	26
4	Josh Dugan	25	James Roberts	23
5	Blake Ferguson	26	Kyle Feldt	24
6	Jonathon Thurston	33	Michael Morgan	24
7	Cooper Cronk	32	Anthony Milford	21
8	Matt Scott	30	Aaron Woods	25
9	Cameron Smith ©	32	Jake Friend ©	26
10	Paul Gallen	34	Dylan Napa	23
11	Josh Papalii	23	Josh Papalii	23
12	Matt Gillet	27	Boyd Cordener	23
13	Corey Parker	34	Jake Trbojevic	22
14	Josh McGuire	26	Josh McGuire	26
15	Michael Morgan	24	Corey Norman	25
16	James Tamou	27	Andrew Fifita	26
17	Sam Thaiday	30	Ethan Lowe	25
18	Aiden Guerra	28	Bryce Cartwright	21
	AVERAGE AGE	28.39	AVERAGE AGE	23.83

Honourable Mention:

Andrew McCullough 26 (Backup Hooker), Corey Oates 21 (Backup Winger), Josh Dugan 25 (Backup Fullback)

Josh Dugan is hard to leave out of the side, but he has to be picked at Fullback. It’s neck and neck, with Tedesco getting the nod for his ball playing out the back.

Gus, what do you think?

Golden Point Vs. Extra Time

The meeting of NRL Coaches this week put forward the proposal of Extra Time rather than Golden Point for the 2016 final series.

Under the proposal, five minutes extra time each way would be played in the event of a draw in all Finals matches before the game goes to golden point. I support the proposal for the final series and furthermore would be willing to adopt it for the regular season.

I do like Golden Point, it provides exhillerating football and is entertaining for the fans. Really there is only one flaw with Golden Point, the Referee’s reluctance to call penalties during the period of play. The Round 2 clash of the Knights and Raiders was a prime example of this. Both sides were frequently offside attempting to pressure the field goal attempt. With a blow of the whistle the game is potentially over.

Moving to an Extra Time format would still provide entertaining football and numerous field goal attempts, but also ensure the game wouldn’t be decided by the Referee’s whistle. If at the end of extra time we are still all tied up then Golden Point would commence.

I’d also like to see the losing team awarded 1 point for any loss in Extra Time or Golden Point.

Enough is Enough

Diving…….The most disgusting, miserable, but nevertheless tactical way to give your side the advantage.

Its been around a while now in Rugby League, but it is now being taken to a level where the players put more effort into their acting then into the play. The way we are going teams will have there own acting coach, teaching players how to dive realistically.

Two notable incidents on the weekend flagged a need for action.

Firstly Josh Reynolds feigning a serious concussion, only to play on. He should have been forced to immediately leave the field for a concussion test, which would have excluded him from the rest of the game. If Reynolds stayed on to be involved in a try there would have been some serious questions asked.

The second was Jamie Lyon launching himself through the air like a Ballerina ensuring the Cowboys 4 pointer was denied.

We need to stop rewarding these poor acts of gameplay. I’m at the point where I would almost rather see Jamie Lyon hit with a professional foul, but that will likely end in more controversy with officials trying to rule on “intent”.

For mine the NRL needs to look at the following options.

1. Remove the Bunker from reviewing and ruling on the previous play where a player has stayed down, leaving the 2 on field referee’s to adjudicate the game
2. Review the obstruction rule, whereby any defending player who does not play to the whistle, voids the obstruction. The obstructed player must prove by continuing to engage in the play, that he was in fact disadvantaged by an opposition player.

I think it would take one week of awarded tries, to cease the obstruction diving.

The NRL has to do something about this.

Refereeing for the FANS

What is the best way to referee a game?

Would you rather see everything pulled up, guaranteeing nothing gets through, or more flow to the game with the occasional infringement getting by?

Would you rather have a referee miss an infringement, or call something that wasn’t there?

We have all watched “that game” where it feels more like an “umpire” sport, where we give them two teams to ref as opposed to two teams playing a game of footy. Occasionally officials seem to be looking for infringements like a police officer short on their traffic fine quota, resulting in players being rewarded with penalties for milking and others unnecessarily placed on report.

Match Officials are without doubt the most powerful people on the field. The game can quickly be taken out of the players’ hands, with one blow of the whistle. In this day and age where teams are so clinical and clubs closer than ever, momentum has never been more important. Anyone who has played football (or any sport for that matter) understands the importance of momentum within a game. Kicking into touch giving your team a rest, a 40/20, a try before half time, a repeat set, defending your goal line, keeping a team scoreless in the first half, these are all great examples of building or defusing momentum.

However arguably the most influential momentum builder or killer is a PENALTY. Pigging backing a team out of defensive territory with a penalty late in the count, providing a team an extra set in attacking territory or giving a team the opportunity to take two points securing an 8-point lead, these can decide a teams fate.

When officials over referee a game it always ends in controversy, with a team receiving one or more soft penalties awarding them momentum. This became apparent once again on Anzac day, where the Roosters went down by 2 to the Dragons. Trent Robinson’s slam on the Bunker after his side loss to the Dragons, has been well documented. For those that may have missed it, here is a link Trent Robinson slams Bunker

Although the Rooster’s coach directed most of the brunt at referee Ben Cummins, he, for the most part made some well-constructed points. Robinson went on to emphasise two ugly facts about our game.

1. Diving or staying down in order to receive a penalty is becoming more prevalent
2. The Bunker is becoming overinvolved in the play of the game

Players lying down for the penalty is something I have written about in several of my last posts. I feel strongly about it, and in my opinion getting up after being hit is what separates (or use to) Rugby League from almost every other sport. Nowadays more and more players are lying down after a hit, waiting for the penalty. Trent Robinson goes on to mention Jonathon Thurston taking countless hits only to rise and play on. We also seen Paul Gallen disadvantaged several weeks ago, against the Tigers when he did not fall to the ground when obstructed.

However these penalties are not just awarded because a player fails to get up, what entails is a review of the contact by “The Bunker” who then adjudicates a penalty and whether to place the contact on report.

 “The bunker decided to be the on-field ref today. They jumped in at every occasion. They’re not the match review committee.”

these were just a few of Trent Robinson’s words after the Anzac Day clash.

It is now a regular occurrence for play to stop while small passages of play are reviewed and decisions made, that otherwise take the match review committee hours or days. Unfortunately it all but decided the fate of the Roosters Vs. Dragons clash on Anzac Day.

“We’re not saying we should have won today. I’m saying we should have had a chance to win today” powerful words from Trent Robinson.

The diving combined with the Bunker’s over involvement are steering our game in the wrong direction. Unfortunately our toughest players are no longer rewarded for their heroism, instead disadvantaged by it.

The majority of the calls officials miss or are not certain on, are usually minor and soon forgotten as play continues. This style of adjudication reduces stoppages, which form part of the game we are already trying to reduce.

I prefer to watch a game decided by the players, where officials merely keep the game in check and more importantly flowing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Report

Currently when a player has a moment of misconduct the opposition team is awarded a penalty and the player is placed on report. This sees them basically face a Court where they defend their actions and face penalties based on a demerit point system, a lot like your driving license.

This system gives the NRL an opportunity to take the time to make an informed decision about the charge, while giving the player and club a chance to mount a defense for the action. Basically it is our judicial system.

The part that I feel is incorrect is that the opposing team on the day is awarded nothing more than a penalty, while the teams in the coming weeks will face a side without the offending player. It really provides a disadvantage to the violating team more so than an advantage to the opposing team on the day.

All in all in it is pretty good system and I am not trying to pick it apart, but what if the player was sin binned for 3 minutes for a violation. Giving the opposition potentially 2 attacking sets a man up. It would give the opposition a valuable chance at capitalizing and posting points. Imagine the expansive attacking football during this period.

Perhaps a penalty and an extra man would provide too much advantage, but in my opinion it would be no more advantageous than the teams receive in the following weeks facing a Thurstonless Cowboys or a Tigers side without Tedesco?

Your thoughts……..