Plans to trial a kicking rule next weekend have been aborted just hours after news of the controversial proposal broke.
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The NRL has torpedoed a proposal to trial a controversial kicking rule change next week after a savage backlash from players, coaches and fans.
The Herald revealed plans to road test a proposal to punish teams who kick into touch, by awarding the opposition team a seven-tackle set, in the Canterbury-Wests Tigers clash next week. However, the initiative, the brainchild of NRL innovation committee chair Wayne Pearce, has been scrapped after a visceral reaction on social media and concerns from key stakeholders.
While Cronulla coach Josh Hannay said the initiative may warrant exploration, players and coaches were almost unanimous in leaving the rules as they are. The result is the NRL will not trial the new rule in the final round of the regular season.
Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans, one of the best tactical kickers in the game, said most of the recent rule changes had been positive, but labelled the latest proposal “unnecessary”.
“I was very intrigued to know how that would work because there are so many different options that come off a kick,” Cherry-Evans told the Herald.
“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.”
Storm star Christian Welch, who is on the Rugby League Players Association alongside Maroons teammate Cherry-Evans, took to social media to voice his concern.
“Please just leave our game alone,” Welch posted on Twitter.