The NRL has reportedly told club bosses that there will be no changes to kick-off rules for the 2025 season.
A Wide World of Sports recently suggested the NRL were planning on tinkering with the rule, ensuring that any kick-off that went more than 30 metres on the full would see the receiving team have a seven-tackle set.
That idea was met with widespread condemnation from fans and shut down almost immediately.
The plight to change the kick-off and its structure in the game came after an increasing number of players were concussed during 2024 when running the ball back at full speed into a defensive line set and able to line players up from a long way out.
Maybe the most infamous of those came on Anzac Day when St George Illawarra Dragons centre Moses Suli was knocked out in a collision with now departed Sydney Roosters' forward Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
In the aftermath of that, both Shane Flanagan and Trent Robinson admitted changes may be needed to the kick-off rule, although neither were sure how to implement it.
It was a theme that continued throughout the year across both coach's and captains' press conferences, and the NRL even admitted at one point it would be on the list of things to review in the post-season.
But The Sydney Morning Herald is now reporting that the review will change nothing, with the NRL's head of elite competition, Graham Annesley, telling clubs at a meeting on Wednesday that there would be no changes.
It's understood clubs were happy with the NRL's position after concerns they would be swayed into changing kick-offs based on public opinion.
The NRL has made efforts to crack down on high contact from defenders on kick-offs, though, as they have in attempting to protect kickers in general play, with penalties and suspensions for offences far more prevalent than they once were.
Roosters' coach Trent Robinson, who has lost Waerea-Hargreaves to the English Super League this off-season, recently suggested send-offs should be utilised for defenders who tackle high and knock out opposition attackers moving forward.
While it's unlikely the NRL will go down an automatic path such as that, it's clear they will continue to make player safety - particularly around head knocks - a priority.
Changes last year to the 18th man rule, and then in 2024 to teams not being penalised for short kick-offs and dropouts, have continued to encourage teams to take safety around head knocks in the most serious fashion possible.
