A shot clock for goal-line drop outs and scrums is set to be introduced in the NRL next season to coincide with a reduction in the number of interchanges from 10 to eight.
NRL head of football Todd Greenberg confirmed the introduction of a shot clock formed part of his recommendation to the ARL Commission on changes to the interchange rule during a fan forum in Brisbane at which he and referees boss Tony Archer also revealed:
the NRL keeps a record of which coaches complain the most and can rank them from 1-16;
Eels coach Brad Arthur (left). Photo: Getty Images
why referees call players by their names and not numbers;
the turnover rate of NRL referees is comparable to that of coaches;
referees had got 97 per cent of all calls in games correct so far this season; and
NRL head of football Todd Greenberg. Photo: Getty Images
the current video refereeing system meant a try was awarded last Monday night without confirmation.
Greenberg said he would put a recommendation on the number of interchanges and the introduction of a shot clock to the ARLC this month following a four-month review aimed at making the game safer and more entertaining.
There has been a push to cut the number of interchanges to six per game for each team but the change is intended to also be adopted in Super League and the NSW and Queensland Cup competitions, and that may be considered too radical.
However, Greenberg said a shot clock would be introduced for goal-line drop outs and scrums to ensure players didn't use the stoppages to overcome increased fatigue levels caused by fewer interchanges.
The use of a shot clock was trialled at this season's NRL Nines in Auckland, with defending teams having 20 seconds to take a goal-line drop out and goalkickers having a 25-second limit for conversion attempts.
Currently, teams have 30 seconds to take a goal-line dropout but many take longer and are not penalised but the time limits for stoppages would be easily enforced if a shot clock was shown on the scoreboard.
"There is a recommendation ready to go but it is not just the quantum of interchange," Greenberg said. "To work on continuous play and make sure fatigue is increased it is not just about dropping the number, it is also about what I call timing controls or a shot clock.
"We can't just say it is going from this number to this number and that will bring fatigue back because if we have a certain number of scrums or drop-outs and we allow them to take 60 seconds that is the equivalent of interchanges. Those two things are aligned so when we go to the commission we will take it as a package and that will be at the back end of July."
The fan forum at Suncorp Stadium last Tuesday night was the third that Greenberg, Archer and NRL operations manager Nathan McGuirk have conducted, with the others being in Sydney and Melbourne.
Those in attendance were able to ask questions about refereeing and had the opportunity to make decisions while watching vision of an incident taken from a camera mounted on the head of a referee.
Among the issues raised by the fans were the dual refereeing model, the amount of time taken by the video referee to make a decision and referees calling players by their names.
"The referee speaks to a player to get a response from him but if he calls him by his number he gets less of a response," Archer said.
Archer also said he was the contact point for coaches who had complaints about refereeing and he and Greenberg keep a record.
"Every text message, phone call and email Tony gets from a coach is logged so I know them 1 to 16 in terms of who contacts him the most," Greenberg said.
Fairfax Media understands that Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has made the most complaints to Archer this season but Greenberg refused to provide details of the list, saying: "All I can tell you is that it is in no way reflective of the competition ladder. In fact, it probably looks more like the reverse."
The forum was also shown footage of Greg Inglis' disallowed try in Origin II with the Channel Nine commentary and then with the audio from the video referee.
"I have a saying which is that people watching on TV watch with their ears, not their eyes," Archer said.
However, Archer conceded that he still did not know if a try to Pat Richards should have been awarded last Monday night as the video referee did not have access to footage from the broadcaster that showed if the Wests Tigers winger had stepped into touch.
That would change with the introduction of the central command centre being costed by Greenberg ahead of an ARLC meeting in August, as video referees would have access to 20 angles from Channel Nine and 11 from Fox Sports.
Replies
I love the idea of the shot clock, just need to bring those interchanges back up for player injury and concussion and it should be sweet.
That's exactly what's going to happen though, the refs are going to penalise teams that aren't ready for the scrum to be fed at the right time. I imagine the "shot clock" is just a term used for what will happen. The video ref/NRL bunker will keep time from when the ball goes out and it must be set and fed within that time.
There needs to be more football being played. I think there was a timer on a few scrums from a game earlier this year and some were getting out to a minute and a half. Add that up at the end of the game and include time for goal-line drop outs and there'd be a fair amount of time where footy isn't played. That's the biggest factor when it comes to fatigue is footy being played. Anything to increase the amount of footy being played I'm all for it.
Agreed, Mitchy.
On another note, I’ve no doubt the weekly correspondence Greenberg has with Canterbury, is used on occasion to discuss refereeing, and gets chalked up in an honest manner.
I’d love to be head of football. Parra would have the cleanest of clean slates in every respect, and Junior would be the tackling instructor at U6s coaching clinics all over NSW.
Good to see the NRL are addressing the biggest issues in the game. FMD.
In the match n they blow up delux.
How is it a gimmick? It's putting a time limit on the amount of time the ball spends out of play. There isn't going to be a big clock at the grounds that counts down the time. It's just going to be an internal thing done by the refs to make sure that the game flows a lot easier and we have more football being played.
I agree with MyBob - Anything that brings "fatigue" back into the game as a factor is great - but 8 is too many, and RL coaches will stick to the predictable script of substituting 2 forwards at the 20m mark of both halves.
This is a USELESS adjustment as new interchange will have little or no effect on the actual game
Needed to be 6, not 8
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