League: Coaches reject major NRL rule changes

Referee Gavin Badger talks with Josh Reynolds of the Bulldogs and Jamie Soward of the Panthers during the NRL Second Preliminary Final. Photo / Getty Images

Major changes to the NRL were rejected by the 16 club coaches at Monday's conference ahead of a two-day rules committee summit.

All 16 NRL mentors attended the NRL coaches conference in Sydney to review the 2014 season and discuss possible improvements.

Warriors coach Andrew McFadden says possible rule changes were floated but quickly dismissed.

He says all 16 coaches felt there had been too many changes last year and wanted to better enforce the current rules to improve the game.

McFadden says one of the major discussions was around improving the quality of referees while there's talk of introducing a basketball style shot clock to prevent time wasting and a standardised time-keeping system for broadcasters, stadia and coaches boxes.

Rule changes from 2014 were also reviewed, including the concussion rule and those that clamped down on cannonball and lifting tackles, and the referees' performance and the match review committee.

Meanwhile, former Kangaroo and Newcastle Knights five-eighth Matthew Johns believes reducing the amount of interchanges will help reduce wrestling in the tackle.

But Johns believed limiting the amount of interchanges from 10 to six would be an encouraging start.

Under Johns' model, once a player left the field he could not return.

He said there would be fewer in tackles as the game wore on and allow the "cream to rise to the top".

"When you fatigue the players, the game really opens up," he told Triple M Sydney's Grill Team.

"This will eliminate getting lots of players in tackles and will really go a long way to eliminating the wrestle out of the game."

- With AAP