Quote: Sal Paradise "In 2005 they did not have the turgid wrestle as Wests showed - brought in primarily by Bellamy in 07 and used extensively in 08, no surprise McGuire was adept at its use!! - not unsurprisingly attendances started to fall as spectators were bored rigid with the product on offer - the introduction of two refs was a targeted attempt to speed up the ruck and the wrestle has thankfully given way to the silky skills that faster rucks provide. Punters want to watch the likes of Benji Marshall and Jonathan Thurston not a ruck that takes 10 seconds plus to clear.
I would much rather watch the pace of game of today's games than the stuff served up by Wigan where they had three men in every tackle and the PTB was pedestrian at best - cheating at worst.'"
NRL Season Stats (pedestrian, bored rigid, turgid arm wrestle era)
2007
NRL Season Stats (entertaining, silky skilled, 2 ref era)
2009: 192 games, 1407 tries, 1164 goals, 34 fg's, 7990 pts, Avg Score 20.81 pts
2010: 192 games, 1420 tries, 1205 goals, 38 fg's, 8218 pts, Avg Score 21.17 pts
HTH