The NRL has backed down on its controversial kick-off rule change. But we haven’t seen the last of it |
Several coaches, so convinced that ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys would push ahead with the controversial kick-off change, were already practising it at training during opposed sessions.
Only once in the history of the game, during the Super League season of 1997, has the scoring team kicked off to restart play. And yet the NRL was toying with a variation on the theme, whereby the team that had conceded points would have the option to either kick off or receive the ball.
The kick-off rule will remain the same, at least for now.Credit: Getty Images
The proposal passed its first test at a meeting of a committee including top coaches Wayne Bennett, Ivan Cleary, Craig Bellamy, Ricky Stuart and Craig Fitzgibbon. The clubs, however, were unanimously against it. They had objected from the moment they first read about the proposal in this masthead in early November, believing the fabric of the game was being unnecessarily tampered with.
The NRL undertook an extensive consultation period, but the clubs were sceptical. They were of the belief that it was a box-ticking exercise, that their........