Salford vs Leeds, Friday 9th August, 8pm

Quote: BrisbaneRhino "Not sure that's correct - there are certainly more close high quality games here than SL. Part of the problem though is the same issue - e.g. the Eels this year have rolled over the minute they've gone behind in every game, and the Tigers have looked like they've been going through the motions as well (led by Marshall who seems completely unwilling to put his body on the line in attack or defence).

But I also have a feeling that ATM the entire game itself is slightly off kilter. Not sure exactly if I could put my finger on the reasons, but it seems to me that unless both teams are near equal in ability we see blowout scores which in the past could have been prevented by simple effort.

In general it seems that teams are rewarded far more for zero errors than taking a chance. If I was a coach I'd never want my players to try to charge down kicks or try a short kickoff or chip and chase unless desperate for example.

So I do think some rule changes are in order - given how good kickers are nowadays I think we should consider rewarding defences more for diffusing kicks in goal by giving the defending team possession for all kicks diffused in goal from within 20m, and possibly look more radically at issues like 5m instead of 10. I'd also definitely allow stealing in the tackle of all kinds to come back, allow defenders to strike for the ball at the PTB and treat charge-downs as not having been touched by the defender (i.e. if the attacking side gets the ball back the tackle count doesn't restart). I'd also lose the whole voluntary tackle cr*p.

Probably most of the above would be disasters, but I think a thorough review of the rules which really affect the flow of the game might be needed sooner rather than later. We tend to see individual rules tinkered with which have unexpected consequences some time after they are changed, rather than look at the game in its entirety and then properly test out rules over time.'"

Rule tweaks could provide an answer. The problem with RL is that any weakness in a team can result in a very big score. The margins are very small. This not only affects top level clubs but those further down the league structure. It can be hard for new players / fans coming to the game to understand that a 50, 60pt loss is the result of only a few weaknesses