Updated: 18:10, Sunday February 5, 2012
Wayne Bennett believes the ‘six to go’ rule, which was given an experimental run in the NRL All Stars match, is the way of the future for rugby league.
Penalties are usually treated as refuge for under-siege sides in the NRL, with breaks in play allowing players the opportunity to catch their breath and rehydrate.
But thanks to the rule change on Saturday night at Skilled Park, there was nowhere for defenders to hide.
Instead of penalising for ruck infringements, referees in the pre-season representative fixture simply signaled a restart of the tackle count for the attacking team.
It certainly shaped the match. The football on display was more fluent, the game was faster, and the longer teams were defending for, the more trouble they were in.
Bennett, who coached the NRL All Stars to a 36-28 victory over the Indigenous side, was won over by the ‘six to go’ rule, and said it should be part of the laws of the game moving forward.
‘It’ll clean that ruck area up, and that’s one of the things I like about it,’ he said.
‘The refs are in a tough place with this, and I think it’s a way out for them. If they gave away all the penalties they should in a game, you guys (the media) will beat them to death.’
‘That’s not going to happen. They hate reading about themselves, more than I do. So this is a way out for them.’
‘The game has great continuity still, but it puts you under a lot of pressure defensively. I think it will be the way of the future.’
Bennett need only ask his captain, Benji Marshall, what sort of effect the rule had on the pace of the game.
The Kiwi said he was more exhausted than usual after the match – a direct result of defending set after set.
‘There was one set where we had four in a row, back to back,’ the Wests Tigers skipper said.
‘It was hard. For a supposed first game of the season, that’s past being a trial match… it’s right up there, tougher than an NRL game.’
As demanding as it was, Marshall too admitted he was a fan of the rule change – but suggested it might need further tinkering.
‘I don’t mind the ‘six to go’ call, but it just happened a little bit too often,’ he said.
‘Sometimes it’s an easy way out instead of having to blow a penalty.’
‘It’s something we can think about, just as long as it doesn’t get carried away too much.’
However, Marshall’s opposite number – Indigenous All Stars captain and North Queensland superstar Johnathan Thurston – was less convinced.
‘The refs saw infringements… but whether they were penalties, would have they have blown the whistle if it was a proper game?’ he asked.
‘You just don’t know what the infringement is
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