Bellamy, Bennett, Cleary and Stuart will come together on Tuesday. This is what they’ll discuss

3 months ago 15

Wayne Bennett, Craig Bellamy and Ricky Stuart are among the big-name coaches who will meet with the NRL on Tuesday to discuss several hot topics including the role of the bunker, what constitutes a sin-binning, and potentially changing the kick-off rule.

The trio, along with Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon and Penrith’s four-time premiership winner Ivan Cleary, will be asked for their opinions in the hope they can help the NRL make any relevant changes moving forward.

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett will be one of the big-name coaches who meets with the NRL on Tuesday.

It was at a similar meeting last year that the NRL and coaches landed on the “common sense” approach to the obstruction rule, which led to referees waving away the claims of defenders trying to milk penalties.

Sources with knowledge of the meeting not authorised to speak publicly confirmed the coaches will debate the role of the bunker – specifically, what bunker officials should be allowed rule on and when they become involved.

The question of high tackles, when they deserve a sin-binning and mitigating circumstances will be discussed, with Reece Walsh’s high shot on Melbourne’s Xavier Coates in the grand final – and the fact he stayed on the field – a prime example that left stakeholders confused.

South Sydney’s Bennett supports changing the kick-off rule, which was first raised by this masthead last month.

The NRL had planned to ask clubs if there was an appetite to change the kick-off rule so that the scoring team takes the kick-off to restart play, rather than receive the ball again. Should enough coaches be in favour, there is every chance the proposal will be taken to the ARL Commission, and rubber-stamped in time for the 2026 season.

Canterbury supremo Phil Gould was firmly against changing the rule, posting on X: “Whoever it was that regurgitated the concept of the scoring team kicking off in the NRL should be publicly whipped. Please ... they tried this rubbish years ago, and it was a disaster.”

During the Super League years in the mid-1990s, the team that conceded a try was given the chance to get back in the game by receiving the kick-off.

Cleary last month said he liked the rule as it was, and said it allowed Penrith to gain momentum late in the game to mow down the Broncos in the 2023 NRL grand final. He added Brisbane’s successive comebacks in this year’s finals series had been helped by getting the ball back after scoring.

“When I started watching rugby league, no one would ever come back from 14 points down – then [Brisbane] did it four weeks in a row,” Cleary said.

Bennett said it made sense to change the kick-off rules because it made the game fairer, and helped balance possession.

“When we re-unified the game after Super League, ‘Gus’ [Gould] knocked it on the head then,” Bennett said. “He was no fan of it – which is OK, he’s entitled to his opinion. He obviously hasn’t changed his stance.

“[By having the rule change] it makes it fair, you have equal opportunity with the ball. Ball control has always been important in the game, but it’s distorted because you can score, then you go back and get the ball back.”