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Teams that score a try could be made to kick off to restart play in 2026 in one of the biggest rule changes that the NRL has contemplated recently to avoid lopsided results.
The governing body is in the process of sending out surveys to clubs and fans as part of an end-of-season review. That feedback, coupled with the NRL’s own analysis, will provide a framework for discussions that examine ways to make the game even more entertaining next year.
Manly star Reuben Garrick gets play under way.Credit: AP
Sources speaking on the condition of anonymity due to confidentiality said a competition committee will look at potential rule tweaks, with the question of which team should kick off to be one of the top agenda items.
Currently, the team that concedes a try or goal restarts play by kicking off, meaning even more possession for that side that just scored points. That can lead to the scoring team gaining momentum that can be difficult to stop, sometimes resulting in an avalanche of points.
The competition committee will consider whether a change to the restart would result in a more even distribution of possession and closer contests. Should a change occur, it will follow the lead of the NFL, where the scoring team kicks off. It would also mark the most significant change to the way the game is played since the introduction of the six-again rule in 2021.
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The NRL is also keen to reduce the amount of time that trainers spend on the field. Currently, the blue-shirt trainer is allowed to run messages and water when their team has possession, until the fourth tackle, up to three times a half. Meanwhile, the orange trainer is allowed on the field to provide water when the side is in possession. The rules are considered complex and difficult to police, while the sight of trainers constantly on the field is a bugbear of fans.
There have also been several incidents in recent seasons where trainers have impacted on play. Penrith was fined $50,000 after a series of indiscretions, the latest also earning trainer Corey Bocking a suspension for running in front of Titan Jayden Campbell just before he took a crucial conversion attempt.
The NRL opted not to make any major rule changes last season, although there were some key interpretation tweaks. The competition committee – which comprised ARLC director Wayne Pearce and coaches Wayne Bennett, Ricky Stuart and Ivan Cleary at the time – provided a clearer framework for the obstruction rule, which has been credited for fewer contentious decisions in 2025.
The competition committee will be expanded this off-season to consider the kick-off rule and other potential changes. Other discussion points for the committee will be ways to prevent players staying down for penalties, how kicks can be contested in the air and protocols around sin-bins and send-offs to ensure an indiscretion doesn’t ruin a contest.
Innovations such as the captain’s challenge, which have helped eliminate blatant errors from on-field officials, have previously been trialled in the final round of NRL seasons. However, Rugby League Central chose not to road test potential innovations in “dead rubber” matches at the end of season 2025.
Meanwhile, the NRL have finalised their investigation into Tonga’s handling of Eli Katoa’s three head knocks last week – but they will hold off making their findings public until they are confident the back-rower will make a full recovery.
Katoa remains in an Auckland hospital after undergoing emergency surgery to have fluid drained from his brain last Sunday.
Sources with knowledge of the situation not authorised to speak publicly confirmed Katoa was likely to be released by the middle of the week.
The NRL’s integrity unit interviewed several Tongan staff in relation to Katoa and how he was allowed to take the field against New Zealand after he appeared to be knocked out during the warm-up at Eden Park.
The Storm enforcer was cleared to play, but then had to undergo two head injury assessments following knocks in the 10th and 51st minutes.
He later suffered seizures while sitting on the sideline and was rushed away on the back of a medicab.
This masthead reported during the week Tonga never saw the sickening TV vision until after the 40-14 loss to New Zealand, and would have ruled Katoa out of the game had they done so.
The integrity unit has not been able to interview Katoa, which is another reason for delaying the findings.
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Katoa has been surrounded by family all week, and was in good spirits on Saturday.
While Tonga’s medical staff have come under scrutiny, there were also questions as to why the independent doctor working in Auckland did not intervene once the footage was made available.
New Zealand prop Nafahu Whyte, who was the player Katoa tried to tackle before he came from the field, said if he had seen a Kiwi player knocked out like Katoa was in the warm-up, he would have spoken up and made sure his teammate never took the field.
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