The NRL is understood to have put a line through its suggested kicking rule change following widespread backlash, per The Sydney Morning Herald.
Conjured by ARL commissioner Wayne Pearce, the rule would have seen teams punished for kicking into touch, handing a seven-tackle set to the opposition.
The rule change was tipped to be used in the Round 25 clash between the Tigers and Bulldogs, a dead-rubber affair that could trial the rule and allow the ARL's innovative sector to deem whether to utilise the change for the future.
However, following mass criticism in response to the suspected trial and potential rule change, the NRL has looked to pour cold water on the concept.
Melbourne Storm forward Christian Welch headlined a large contingent of players, coaches and fans in uproar at the ARL's suggestion.
Please just leave our game alone. The tension, grind, pressure & game management almost already gone. Would love the commission for less gimmicking with the rules & more focus on bigger picture strategy
— Christian Welch (@clwelch94) August 26, 2021
RLPA chief executive Clint Newton stated that the league isn't set to introduce any rule changes to conclude the 2021 season, with the NRL likely to confer with it's players first.
“It’s my understanding that there is no rule that is going to be introduced or trialled next weekend,” Newton said, per The Sydney Morning Herald.
“The NRL have given commitments that no more rules will be trialled or introduced until the end of the season.
“But the NRL also knows the firm belief and sentiment among the playing group that when there is a review of any items on-field that impact the players, we have made a formal submission that players want to be at the table.”
So under the proposed @NRL rule change are 40/20s still going to be a thing? Hell what about 20/40s??? #NRL #LeaveTheGameAlone
— Raiders Review With Blake & The Pork. (@blakeandthepork) August 27, 2021
Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans stated his perplexion in the ARL's initial suggestion of implementing the change to the game's kicking and the impact it would have from a tactical standpoint when speaking with The Herald.
“I was very intrigued to know how that would work because there are so many different options that come off a kick,” Cherry-Evans said
“For example, the long 40-20 kicks that might be a couple of inches off. It might be an attacking cross-field kick that might have gone wrong. There are so many variables to determine what is a deliberate kick out.
“That’s before you mention what I think is a pretty important area of our game and that is the craft of playing halfback. It’s about putting the ball out when you need it to go out or keeping it in when you need it to stay in.
“We’d probably be taking away from that.”
