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Frustrated NRL coaches are set to call for a return to the two-referee system next week when the governing body holds a phone hook-up with all 16 clubs.
The Daily Telegraph reported NRL coaches want to bring back two referees, get teams onside, stop making late rule changes, review the head contact crackdown and overhaul the judiciary process when they meet with NRL powerbrokers.
The NRL controversially cut one referee per game halfway through the 2020 season, partially due to cost-cutting amid the Covid pandemic.
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The shift to one referee coincided with rule changes designed to speed the game up, including the controversial six-again rule.
In 2021 the six-again rule could also be used for offsides, which sped up the game further and coaches believe the consistency with the 10-metre rule has been a casualty of the new system.
The NRL are set to hold “feedback sessions” with the clubs in the coming weeks to iron out the issues in the game and a return to the two-referee system is high on the agenda for the coaches.
The coaches believe that one referee is simply unable to handle the speed of the game, with the ten-metre rule not being policed consistently since the other official was taken away.
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The consensus is that a second referee will help referees pick up more off-side breaches from teams and ensure more consistency.
A Sydney-based coach reportedly told the The Daily Telegraph that the ten metres wasn’t policed in 2021.
“Sure, there were some blowout scores, but the 10 metres was stuffed,” the coach said.
“Teams just didn’t get on side. The 10 metres has gone to ***t, it’s almost gone back to the 1980s.
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“The game is too quick for one referee. You can’t referee our game with one ref. We’re that far behind other sports when it comes to adjudication, it’s ridiculous. They need the head referee on the ruck and second ref at the 10 metres.
“Sides were smothering other teams with line speed because they weren’t onside. They will say there were all those high-scoring games but that was just because some sides were inept defensively.
“And they will say there was the ‘six again’ but they were reduced from 12 to 15 a game earlier in the season down to about six later in the season because they didn’t want blowouts.”
Any changes to the rules or officiating procedures would likely be announced by the NRL during the pre-season after a period of consultation.
The trials will be used as a period to bed down any issues and rule changes before the season starts, with the NRL conscious of clubs being frustrated with mid-season changes to the rules.
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