Rugby League in England is going through a tough time. Meanwhile, in Australia and New Zealand the game is resurgent. At the NRL level, games are sold out, and amongst youth, youngsters are on waiting lists trying to get into teams, and clubs are crying out for coaches.
Looking at the game in the North of England, there is a lot of history and passion there, no doubt about it. Moving to playing during the summer has been a big benefit. Games are now played in pleasant conditions, fans want to watch and players are not having to wade through ankle deep mud. Whoever came up with the idea was a genius.
I read somewhere that the NRL is making a takeover bid for Super League in England. As part of that, the games would have to move back to winter. Don't do it England, because if you do, you'll be consigned to the minors forever (or is that miners...boom boom). The NRL see the competition on the TV and want to close it down, simple as that.
Better still, I have a few tentative suggestions for bringing life back to games in England:
1. Play over four, 20 minute quarters.
2. Introduce 2 point drop goals from anywhere (not the NRL two pointer from beyond the 40m line).
3. Scrap the 40:20 rule (largely due to the above, and what is explained below).
4. Only insist that the sixth play-the-ball must use the ball if play has not progressed 20 metres (this is like NFL, where you keep possession if you make yardage). If the team with the ball makes 20 metres, the referee calls tackle restart.
5. Have two referees and scrap video referral.
6. Stop being ridiculous about how you define a knock-on.
7. Score tries 5 points, conversion 1 point, penalties and drop goals 2 points.
8. Start the game and second half with a place kick-off, not drop-kick, and quarters restart from where play ended at quarter time.
9. Allow unlimited interchange, but have 5 players on the bench.
10. As a curtain-raiser, play women's Rugby League Nines.
11. Have a player draft, centralise player salaries with the cap at one million pounds per team. The local team becomes a licensee promoting the game.
12. Get rid of the 10 player overseas quota. This is nonsense as you can have an Englishman move to Australia at a young age, learn the game there, then return in their late 20's and be considered an import. Just scrap it, and have anyone of any nationality legally living in the UK able to play.
13. Extra time is 10 minutes, with only a try immediately ending the match, otherwise the match ends in a draw if the score is still locked after extra time with no tries.
14. Scrap yellow cards. 13 players are on the field the whole time, but anyone sent from the field is excluded for the rest of the match. Teams only go to less than 13 when they run out of players on the bench.
Think about it; these suggestions would open up the game, reward effort both defensively and on attack, and make the contest fairer.
