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Wayne Bennett has urged rival clubs to stop complaining about a proposed change to the kick-off rule, which remains on track to be in place for the trials and the NRL season.
The NRL has proposed four rule changes, including giving teams that have just conceded a try the option to either kick off or receive the ball. The long-standing rule has been that teams that give up points are always the ones to restart play by kicking the ball from the halfway line.
Another proposed change is to increase match-day squads from 17 to 19 players, and allow teams to choose their four interchange players from a six-man bench, depending on the match situation and injuries.
Bennett joined Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy, Canberra’s Ricky Stuart, Penrith’s Ivan Cleary, Brisbane’s Michael Maguire and Cronulla’s Craig Fitzgibbon at NRL HQ before Christmas for a briefing on the proposed rule changes.
Broncos chief executive Dave Donaghy, acting on behalf of a club consultation committee, emailed the NRL late last week, urging them not to rush through the changes, including the tweak to the kick-off, and that it was better to trial the rule in the lower grades.
Donaghy reportedly wrote in the email that the proposed kick-off rule changes the “fabric of the game” and could lead to confusion among fans.
Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett is a big fan of the proposed kick-off changes.Credit: Sam Mooy
The 17 club chiefs will hold a phone hook-up with NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo on Wednesday to express any concerns.
Abdo, ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys and commissioner Wayne Pearce have the power to change any rules without club support, which they have done in the past. But they will listen to the clubs’ concerns.
South Sydney’s Bennett has long been a fan of changing the kick-off rule because it increases the chances of teams having an even split of possession and reduces the prospect of blowout scorelines. Warren Ryan, another respected figure in the game, has also been a supporter of the team that scores restarting play.
Bennett was bemused when told about the clubs’ concerns, and said on Monday: “You’ve got an option, so if it offends you, and you don’t like it, do what you’ve always done and kick off ... It doesn’t change.
Ricky Stuart and Craig Bellamy leave NRL HQ last month after a meeting to discuss rule changes.Credit: Sam Mooy
“I’m a fan of the flexibility of it even more because now you’ve got the option to kick off, or you don’t want to kick off.
“This is a new rule of the game where you can determine whether you want the ball back. Who is to stop the team kicking off to you going short? Nobody.
“If you like the old rule, and you don’t like the new rule, stick with the old rule.
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“You’ve got the choice, you can just say, ‘We’ll kick off. We’ve kicked off the last 100 years, and my team is kicking off again today’.
“Stop whingeing about it. The key to the game is possession.
“If you listen to some of these guys [complaining], we’d still be playing with unlimited tackles, and players would still be wearing black boots with white laces.”
Teams that concede tries are likely to want to receive the ball, but depending on the score and the time remaining in the game, could still opt to kick long and play for field position.
The Broncos staged three successive large comebacks during the 2025 finals series, which would have been difficult if they had been forced to kick off after scoring, while the Panthers had all the momentum to steam home over Brisbane in the 2023 grand final, which also would have been difficult if they were forced to restart play after each try.
Allowing teams to carry six bench players will also help contests remain closer, especially if a playmaker is injured early in a game. Only four of the six players can be utilised, but if a halfback or five-eighth goes down injured early, fans can take heart; a readymade replacement could be on the bench.
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