Canberra Raiders head coach Ricky Stuart has moved to back the six-again changes introduced by the NRL and ARLC for the 2026 season.

Controversy had followed the start of the NRL season around like a bad smell, mainly around the policing and enforcement of six agains.

The rise of six agains have come about from tighter refereeing interpretations, as well as the fact rules were shuffled during the pre-season to allow them to be called between the opposition 20 and 40-metre zone now, rather than penalties being blown in that space, as they have been in recent seasons.

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It has led to an alarming rise in six agains and points, as well as a sharp decrease in competitiveness across the opening weeks of the campaign, with Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'Landys warning coaches earlier this week to stop trying to flaunt the rules.

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has never run away from criticising the competition or rule changes in the past, but told the media on Wednesday that it was all about speeding up the game, and that fans needed to make a decision over which sort of rugby league they wanted played.

"Peter V'landys has made it very clear to us all that the business we are in is an entertainment business," Stuart told reporters on Wednesday.

"You can see that the [ARL] Commission want it to be fast, you can see the Commission want it to be attractive for our fans and they want tries scored.

"Speeding up the game is one way of doing that. Eliminating the penalties from the 20-metre to the 40-metre zone is going to speed the game up and have more ball in play.

"You can see the nature of what the Commission want.

"You've got to make a decision yourself as a fan.

"Would you like to be a fan of an opposition team where you've got a team that just wants to keep on wrestling and wear the referee out to the stage where the referee just doesn't give any more penalties? Or would you rather it just be play-on with the six-again?"

Stuart went on to reveal that he as a fan would want the faster game with fewer penalties and less wrestle, although plenty of questions have been asked over whether rugby league is sustainable in its current format.