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http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...h-crackdown-on-play-the-balls-20180210-h0vw3g
NRL 2018: NRL to launch crackdown on play the balls
Adam Pengilly
The NRL will launch a season-long crackdown on players who make no genuine attempt to play the ball correctly, ordering referees to lay down a marker from this weekend's trial games.
The practice of players simply rolling the ball through their legs rather than striking it back to a dummy half increased dramatically last year, prompting League Central to send out a pre-Christmas edict to clubs it wouldn't be tolerated in 2018.
The NRL has sent its whistleblowers out to all clubs over summer to work with clubs on cleaner play the balls.
"There will be a much greater focus on the play the ball and a genuine attempt to play the ball," NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said.
"I think you'll see the referees be very vigilant with that. The challenge for the referees is they must maintain that vigilance all year.
"There's little things and big things and little things like the play the ball are big things to fans. The feedback last year when I was doing fan forums around the country was not to do with finances, but to do with the play the ball, referees and judiciary.
"We've spoken about it with the competitions committee and coaches and the referees have been given a strong directive."
Most NRL clubs will have their first hit-out of the season this weekend, while the Dragons will take on Super League visitors Hull before the Rabbitohs clash with Wigan in an ANZ Stadium double-header on Saturday evening.
Penrith's clash with the Roosters at Panthers Stadium will be the other pre-season hit-out in Sydney.
On top of more stringent policing of the play the ball, Greenberg is throughout the year set to use GPS data collated by clubs to further examine whether interchanges should be reduced from eight to six to bring more little men into the game.
"We'll look at the data and we wanted to get through the two years where it was 10 to eight," Greenberg said.
"We're going to work with the clubs on all of the GPS tracking information and we're going to do a piece of work this year to consider what that might look like in the future.
"I think we found a really good balance when we came back from 10 to eight with interchange.
"Fatigue is an important part of modern rugby league. We've got to make sure we balance power, speed and skill so all body shapes can play the game. I'm really pleased with where we're at with that balance and I'm confident we're going to see a great spectacle."
NRL 2018: NRL to launch crackdown on play the balls
Adam Pengilly
The NRL will launch a season-long crackdown on players who make no genuine attempt to play the ball correctly, ordering referees to lay down a marker from this weekend's trial games.
The practice of players simply rolling the ball through their legs rather than striking it back to a dummy half increased dramatically last year, prompting League Central to send out a pre-Christmas edict to clubs it wouldn't be tolerated in 2018.
The NRL has sent its whistleblowers out to all clubs over summer to work with clubs on cleaner play the balls.
"There will be a much greater focus on the play the ball and a genuine attempt to play the ball," NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said.
"I think you'll see the referees be very vigilant with that. The challenge for the referees is they must maintain that vigilance all year.
"There's little things and big things and little things like the play the ball are big things to fans. The feedback last year when I was doing fan forums around the country was not to do with finances, but to do with the play the ball, referees and judiciary.
"We've spoken about it with the competitions committee and coaches and the referees have been given a strong directive."
Most NRL clubs will have their first hit-out of the season this weekend, while the Dragons will take on Super League visitors Hull before the Rabbitohs clash with Wigan in an ANZ Stadium double-header on Saturday evening.
Penrith's clash with the Roosters at Panthers Stadium will be the other pre-season hit-out in Sydney.
On top of more stringent policing of the play the ball, Greenberg is throughout the year set to use GPS data collated by clubs to further examine whether interchanges should be reduced from eight to six to bring more little men into the game.
"We'll look at the data and we wanted to get through the two years where it was 10 to eight," Greenberg said.
"We're going to work with the clubs on all of the GPS tracking information and we're going to do a piece of work this year to consider what that might look like in the future.
"I think we found a really good balance when we came back from 10 to eight with interchange.
"Fatigue is an important part of modern rugby league. We've got to make sure we balance power, speed and skill so all body shapes can play the game. I'm really pleased with where we're at with that balance and I'm confident we're going to see a great spectacle."
