League-rugby gap closing

The Sun-Herald can reveal figures that show the gap between league and union as a try-scoring spectacle is being bridged. The opening 56 NRL games of the season averaged 6.5 tries per game while Super Rugby yielded 4.1 in its first 54 games. The common perception among league fans is rugby is that boring and stagnant and their game is much more free flowing but the numbers show the difference is no longer so vast.

And it is being noticed with the likes of Ryan Cross, a former Wallaby and a grand finalist for the Sydney Roosters, questioning the perception league is the most exciting of the two codes.

Cross, who now plays rugby for Balmain in the sub-district competition, said he'd noticed the decline in the number of tries being scored in league and that the the code's ''x'' factor is diminishing.

''I have noticed there is a lot less tries in league, the wrestling at the play-the-ball is so slow, and it's becoming frustrating to watch,'' Cross said. ''I love my league but there is a lot of wrestling, the play-the-balls seem to be taking forever so the defence gets set. I think in union the [action] has got a little bit better. I don't know what the percentage of [rugby league] tries from kicks is, but it seems as though they're scoring a lot of tries off them. The footy hasn't been all that great this year, although you do get a good match now and again, but it has been pretty frustrating.

''I'd love to be on the end of the Melbourne back line because they have some of the best players ever, though Todd Carney is creating opportunities out at the Sharks. You find the best halves can create opportunities against anyone.

''It was why it was great playing outside Adrian Lam and Brad Fittler, you know you were going to get an opportunity out the back and that was all you wanted, a bit of one-on-one opportunity and a lot of good players aren't getting that chance [this season], which is frustrating .''

Newcastle coach Wayne Bennett and former Manly coach Bob Fulton, a rugby league immortal, have led the campaign to rid the game of the wrestle because it is damaging the excitement of the contest. However, Bennett and Fulton are examples of coaches who will adopt whatever advantage they can to win, including wrestling. The 1996 Manly-Warringah Football Club's annual report identified a wrestling coach, N. Steel, as being on Fulton's staff. When the Dragons defeated the Sydney Roosters for the 2010 crown, Bennett - who had been a noted critic of the grapple tackle - saluted the contribution martial artist Mick Cutajar had on his team's defensive capabilities.

Former Melbourne Storm and NSW Origin star Matt Geyer thought that it would be hard to change the rules such as tackling technique after the season started. ''Whatever changes they might want to make would have to occur during the off-season,'' said Geyer. ''It's a bit hard to change rules when you've prepared for your campaign within them.''

He added if the agenda was in any way an attempt to nullify the Storm, who remained undefeated, it would only add to the club's resolve. NRL referees' co-coach Bill Harrigan warned his refs would penalise any player who employed illegal tactics to slow down the play-the-ball. To also enhance the game as a spectacle he warned referees who don't police the 10-metre line will be dropped.

Harrigan pointed out the areas referees will scrutinise:

LINE SPEED

''The main focus this year has been policing the 10m because we were being criticised about the measurement of the 10m between the two referees in one game and referees from one game to another. We acknowledged that, and to fix it we've said when the referee calls 'hold' we want the defensive team's [players'] body mass to be back with the referee and for them to wait until the referee calls 'go' before they move off the mark.''

JUMPING THE GUN

''The secondary problem to the line speed is if the defending team jumps the gun and moves up early before the ball clears the ruck. The defenders can be three or four metres up on the first receiver before he takes three or four steps and he's being nailed. It has an impact because they get that one or two metre advantage.''

SCRUMS

''There has been a number of scrum penalties because we said we'd fix the scrums, as we did last year, by making them more presentable. By keeping the scrum bound until the ball clears teams can play football off the back of a scrum because they're getting time and room to do that.''

TIME WASTING

''Players look for a break and they're dawdling to the scrum and we're stopping that because they're becoming 30-second or more pauses.''

REFEREES AND THE ENTERTAINMENT FACTOR

''Referees have to just do our job which means if there is illegal problems in the game we jump on it; if a team is not getting back and they're offside we jump on it. If a team is laying around and impacting on the speed of the ruck - and it's illegal, which means if the referee yells get off and the player doesn't - we penalise it. I'm happy with the referees and the job they're doing.''