Is the NRL too fast?
RUGBY LEAGUE is as much about speed as anything. Coaching vernacular is sprinkled with notions of quick play-the-balls, fast-moving defensive lines and rapid ball movement.
Rule changes invariably revolve around making the game faster or slowing it down. The game's rule-makers walk a tightrope as they look to find the right balance between attack and defence. When Sydney Roosters coach Chris Anderson raised misgivings late last year over the path rugby league was taking, he put speed, or lack thereof, back on the agenda.
When he last coached in the NRL with Cronulla, he had little need for a wrestling coach. Now they are standard fare among the NRL's 16 teams as each looks to win the play-the-ball. And that's not the only change Anderson finds unpalatable.
The speed of the game, the predilection with winning the ruck and the increasing pressure on referees have combined to make rugby league less entertaining and less attractive. On the surface, there appears to be substance to Anderson's claims. Over the past five years, the number of tries and points per game have dipped.
In 2002, an average 8.5 tries and 48.1 points were scored per game. Last year, that figure was down to 7.6 tries and 43.4 points. The result has been closer games, with the average winning margin diminishing from a peak of 17.3 points in 2002 to 14.2 last season - the lowest since the start of the NRL in 1998. "It makes for close games but it doesn't make for good games," Anderson said.
Anderson's concern is not without precedent. A decade ago, with the evolution of Super League, attack was at a premium. The result was a game that was too fast for its own good as players struggled to handle the pace. "Everyone was complaining about how quick it was," Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said.
But despite concern over the speed of Super League, there were less points per game (42) and less tries scored (7.2) during the Super League competition of 1997 than any season since 2000. In recent years, measures have been taken to slow the game, two of the more notable being the introduction of the dominant and surrender tackles, both designed to reward defence. It has become a delicate balancing act.
The game becomes too fast, rules are changed to slow it down, coaches search for ways to circumvent the changes to suit their style. "They were trying to slow it down post-tackle rather than in the tackle. The strategy has changed," referees coach Robert Finch explained. "It's a balancing act."
Anderson argues the balance has tipped too far in favour of the defending team. The result is attack is stifled and the flow-on effect is less tries, less points, and less thrills for the fans. "I spend a lot more time doing wrestling and video stuff that's not conducive to good open football," Anderson said. "You have to be in the wrestle now. It's about having three or four blokes in defence. There is no rhythm to the game. "
The referees are finding it hard to referee. They're trying to keep defenders on side, trying to look at the play-the-ball. It's very hard to be consistent." As recently as 2004, concerns were raised with the speed of the game, prompting the introduction of the surrender tackle law. Anderson had plenty to do with that.
In many ways, he is credited with developing the strategy as a means of circumventing the Ricky Stuart-inspired defensive revolution. The pair clashed heatedly during Anderson's last stint in coaching as Anderson claimed Stuart's sides, and their penchant for getting three and four defenders in the tackle, was bad for the game.
His response, and that of others, was to use the surrender tackle, where attackers found the ground as quickly as possible to promote fast play-the-balls. Suddenly the game became too fast and surrendering in tackles was also roundly panned.
Rugby league is a game of contact. The thought that attacking players would roll over without a fight caused an outcry. "When Chris coached (at Cronulla) his players had a reputation for surrendering in tackles," Bellamy said. "That was the thing that he and Ricky were blueing about.
The Roosters were the gang-tacklers and the Sharks surrendered." Stuart made speed a factor on the opposite side of the ball. Whereas pace had generally been a hallmark of attacking sides, Stuart applied the term to the defensive side of the game. A feature of his 2002 premiership-winning Roosters side was the speed of the defensive line. "Defensive lines are a lot quicker than what they were three years ago even," Bellamy said. "That might slow the attack down but the defensive line has more speed in it.
I think the balance is quite good at the moment." While Anderson queries the entertainment value of the close contests, Bellamy is an unashamed supporter. "I'm a bit of a fan of close games," Bellamy said. Asked whether he liked them when they involved the Storm, Bellamy put a caveat on his response. "I like close games when I'm watching at home on TV," he said.
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