‘We suffered for over a decade’: Bennett backs six-agains as scores soar
Wayne Bennett has defended the NRL’s radical shift to clean up the ruck as clubs and coaches raise questions about the controversial six-again rule amid a pattern of blowout scores and injuries blamed on fatigue.
This season’s increased deployment of set restarts has accelerated the speed of games and increased the number of points scored to an average of 50 per match.
The changes have been implemented as the code attempts to present the most attractive product it can to broadcasters in an effort to secure a record-breaking fee for the next five-year rights cycle.
They have been a point of contention, though, with some clubs left frustrated and Canberra coach Ricky Stuart voicing his concerns this week, saying “we’ve lost the fabric of the game”.
Club chief executives have sought a meeting with NRL head of football Graham Annesley on the issue, but South Sydney coach Bennett maintains the game cannot return to an era of the ruck being disrupted.
“There is no doubt it’s a game changer,” he said before Souths’ game against Shane Flanagan’s St George Illawarra at Accor Stadium on Saturday.
“But we’ve got a game that’s full of entertainment right now. There are some wonderful tries being scored, great ball movement. Do we go back where had grapples and all the other terms for different types of tackles that we were making to hold players down?
“I don’t want to go back to that. We suffered for over a decade with that, and I don’t want to go back there.”
Some clubs have adapted better than others to this year’s six-again interpretations and their use from an attacking team’s 20-metre line rather than from their 40-metre line.
They include the Raiders, with Stuart, previously a supporter of tackle count resets replacing penalties for particular infringements, claiming the policy had gone too far.
Stuart, whose side beat the Rabbitohs 36-34 in Perth last weekend, said on Thursday: “Making the game faster doesn’t necessarily make it more attractive because the score line is 50 to 30. I don’t believe that is more attractive.”
Parramatta coach Jason Ryles earlier this season warned that greater fatigue among players would cause more injuries from hip-drop tackles such as the one that ended the season of Eels representative forward J’maine Hopgood in round three.
Bennett, whose team sits fifth on the ladder, said he would be happy if an alternative was found that didn’t necessitate set-restarts but believes “the onus is back on the players”.
“The players are always playing on the edge of the rules, and this is one they really can’t play on the edge with because it really hurts your team,” he said.
“They’ve got to become more conscious about being more compliant and making better efforts to give the referee what he wants. They want a cleaner, better play-the-ball situation than we’ve had in the past, and I don’t want that to change, personally.”
Clubs are also seeking clarity about when future amendments to rules and interpretations will be made, with some unhappy at how little notice was provided about this year’s round of changes before they were put into action.
The NRL announced the updated version of the six-again rule on February 4, less than a month before the season began with a double-header in Las Vegas.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.