It is a negative play. An easier way to solve it is to have a 40m tap if the kick is from your own half and keep the 20m tap if you are less than 20 away from the oppositions line.

What he said.

By punishing kicks that run dead (whether intentional or not) you risk making kickers far more risk averse and rewarding negative defending (full backs letting it run dead instead of returning it). So you end up with more negative tactics rather than solving a problem

So you want to reward the fullback for letting the ball run dead even more than the 20 tap currently does?


Seriously, defending teams don't have a problem starting with a 20 tap. They're happy to do so very often, hence how you so often see a winger or fullback standing over a ball that runs dead rather than trying to pick it up. Giving them more reward for not running the ball won't reduce these instances.

If anything when the ball goes dead, maybe less controlled restart as in the attacker can restart play quicker from anywhere on the 20 meter line or stop having to wait for ref and the defensive line.

The NRL this year has reintroduced the quick restart - so long as the ref is in position and the team returning the ball is behind the 20m. That is one of the main solutions to it being used as a dulling tactic by the kicking team. A restart on the 20m is not a bad place to be even against a set defence.