Two NRL experimental laws have legs, but bin the powerplay

Columnist

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Master coach Wayne Bennett has signed off on the “six to go” experimental law introduced in last Saturday nights All Star rugby league game.

Instead of whistling up a penalty for a minor infringement, the ref gave the “six to go” signal, irrespective of the tackle count at the time. The tackle-count resets to zero and play continues.

The rule is similar to an advantage being played in football or rugby – instead of a stoppage, the game continues to flow.

The result was a far faster and more entertaining game. The players were knackered, but for the viewer it was a spectacular success.

Said Bennett – “It’ll clean up the ruck area, that’s what I like about it.

“The game still has great continuity, but it puts you under a lot more pressure defensively. I think it will be the way of the future”.

Bennett’s skipper Benji Marshall was in two minds.

“I was more exhausted than usual. There was one set when we had to defend four in a row.

“But sometimes it was an easy out (for refs) instead of having to blow a penalty”.

I like the second of the three experimental laws tried – an unrestricted bench of seven. With the All Stars game played at a cracking pace over four quarters it stands to reason that players will really feel the pinch in a NRL game of two 40-minute halves, if the “six to go” becomes law.

An unrestricted bench would be a boon for coaches to keep the pressure on the opposition and retain the increase in tempo.

But I don’t like the third experimental law of power play which required the opposition to take two players off the field for five minutes, and contest with 11 men.

Far too gimmicky for mine. Rugby league doesn’t need the tricky stuff, it’s a top product as it is.

But the “six to go”, and the unrestricted bench of seven, both have legs.

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