It has, aswell as the player being there a long time dispensation

He would be definitely but there has to come a ‘passing of the torch’ moment. Personally I don’t think it will be this year, he’s had a good break due to CV19 and will probably be good to go in 2021. We do look better but we also need to look towards the future.

Something which is starting to stand out from the games over recent weekends is that players are dropping like flies with injuries. It could be a coincidence, but the COVID disruptions in conjunction with the rule changes which are speeding the game up lead me to think that it probably isn't. This is before the schedule starts getting jam packed with the rearranged fixtures.

Having strength in depth is going to be even more important this year than it usually is, and even if Havard/Byrne and the others are going along fine just now, having SO'L to come in could really easily be the difference between winning a trophy this season and not.

The rule changes after lockdown and mid season were baffling IMO. Next season would have been far better. Just as an aside, I’m getting sick to death of the rules constantly being tinkered with. Just leave the game as it is for goodness sake, the NRL, SL and international all play under different rules yet we sit and wonder why no one takes RL seriously.

Agree that they should have left it until next season but disagree about us not continuing to evolve the rules. It's kind of like the law IMO, the players and coaches keep finding new ways to exploit the rules so the rule-makers keep needing to amend the rules to keep up with them. I think most people agree that the '6 again' rule has been a good addition, and I'm sure you will agree that we needed to change the rules to stop players deliberately playing the ball into the defender on the floor or throwing the ball at offside players for a cheap penalty.

If they're constantly thinking of tweaking rules, they should definitely bring this one back:

[urlhttps://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/mole-brisbane-broncos-chairman-karl-morris-sacking-pressure-wayne-bennett-return/bf192c04-f5cd-415b-97ee-77d0a1f951d5[/url

They tried this late 80s/early 90s when we were winning everything. Didn't work. We kept the opposition pinned down in their own half, got the ball back on the halfway line then racked up another try. At least with the scored against team kicking off the scoring team has to go the full length of the pitch to score.

Think we also had it in the early 2000's when we were winning nowt!



Still think it would be better than receiving the ball back after scoring.

Start of super league it was. 97 and 98. (May have been done earlier too I suppose)

Either way, it didn't work IMO and there are far more "important" rules that need changing first. The 'tackle in the air' rule is stupid with genuine attempts at the ball being penalised as no common sense is applied.

I agree though that SL, NRL and International games should be played under the same rules.

Maybe not so fine after all?

One game back and he's gone again, You couldn't make it up like

We only play him in the big games because we can't win them without him