The new NRL season will kick off with a number of rule changes. Michael Brown looks at one of the more significant differences.
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They were already becoming more endangered than the Anatolian leopard but the new interchange rule might finally be the death knell of rugby league's big boys.
This season, NRL coaches will be allowed to make only 10 changes during a game, down from the 12 that have been
in place for the past seven years. There was discussion about reducing it to eight but this was seen as too much of a jump.
It's been done to try to create more space for the little guys to exploit against tiring and lumbering forwards. There was a belief the game had become stale and that every team was essentially employing the same tactics.
While a reduction from 12 to 10 might not seem significant, and only time will tell how important it will be, the day of a big, impact player taking the field for only 15 or 20 minutes a game might be drawing to an end.
"The power athlete, the Feka Paleaaesinas of the world, maybe they are becoming a dying breed,' Warriors coach Ivan Cleary muses. "You are not going to be able to pick guys like that - not too many of them, anyway.'
Reports out of Australia suggest a number of players have trimmed down in the off season because of the need to play more minutes.
Parramatta's Mark 'Piggy' Riddell, has abstained from alcohol for eight weeks - the longest period in his adult life - and reportedly shed 1kg for every week off the drink. Others have also tried to avoid the fat so it doesn't stick to their waists.
In this highly professional era, club semphasise aerobic fitness anyway but
players who can last more minutes on the field than their counterparts will
become even more valuable.
Warriors skipper Steve Price fits this category. The 33-year-old frontrower averaged 64.1 minutes a game in his 23 appearances last season and twice played the full 80 minutes when most of his contemporaries averaged about 40 to 50 minutes.
"Considering Pricey's age, it's made him even more valuable,' Cleary says. "He can play more minutes than just about any other front-rower. When he's not playing for us, that will affect our changes quite a bit. Hopefully he plays every game.'
Price is a fan of the rule change and was one of the first to suggest it.
"We are at a situation where tactically most coaches are doing the same thing and adopting the same style of play,' he says. "I thought it was time we challenged ourselves a little more. After all, it is an endurance, gladiatorial sport. Whether it helps the little guys, I don't know, but we don't want to go back to what it was when there were no changes.'
The unlimited interchange rule was brought in briefly in 1991 and then again for five years from 1996. While many of the backs played the full 80 minutes in those days, forwards came and went from the field like Japanese tourists checking out Huka Falls. As many as 40 replacements were made in a game and allowed the likes of Mark Tookey, whose love-affair with food equalled his passion for rugby league, to find a valued place in the game.
Price's ability to stay on the field will allow Cleary some breathing space when it comes to using his bench.
Last year the Warriors coach tended to make 10 changes, sometimes 11, preferring to have a couple up his sleeve in case of injury. This year, Cleary is likely to target nine changes.
"The main difference will be when you have some of your key guys out, or a younger or less experienced team on the field,' he says.
"When sides have close to their full-strength team, I don't think it will make much of a difference.
"Good players are better at lasting the distance. They go through fatigue better, because of their experience and the fact they are better athletes as well.
"The biggest difference will come when you get an injury late in the game. In the past, you might have had a change or two up your sleeve, now you might not. That might help smaller blokes if there's someone on the wing just being a body out there.
"You just have to be a bit smarter and save a change or two that you used to make.'
Coaches are contemplating the make-up of their bench. Last year, two props, one loose forward and a hooker generally started on the sidelines but the likelihood of carrying a specialist second hooker is remote. The rakes must be able to cover a number of positions, particularly in the backs.
Cleary is fortunate that he has a number in his squad who can do that. New recruit Ian Henderson can slot into lock, Nathan Fien can also play in the halves, while Lance Hohaia has played everywhere from lock to wing, five-eighth to fullback.
He also has the luxury of having loose forwards such as Micheal Luck, Simon Mannering and Wairangi Koopu who are used to playing big minutes, while Mannering and Koopu are also comfortable in the centres.
There's a widespread perception teams such as the Cowboys will benefit most from the rule changes.
Not only do they have some of the most exciting little men in the competition in Johnathan Thurston, Matt Bowen and Ashley Graham, who can take advantage of tiring forwards in the latter stages of the first and second halves, but they also play their home games in the heat of Townsville.
"I have heard that people think it will favour us but I believe it still comes down to the control of the ball,' Cowboys coach Graham Murray says.
"[The new rule] will be a significant change but the principles of the game don't change - whoever controls the ball controls the game. Life is a bit restricted for the big bopper but you still need big men. They will just have to stay on the field a bit longer.'
One coach who opposed the change, particularly for this year, was Newcastle's Brian Smith. He argued that he would have recruited differently had he known the rule would be introduced this season and is unconvinced it would have the
desired effect.
"If we want to have a slower game and have more lighter-weight players in our game, then we're probably heading that way,' Smith told ABC Newcastle. "I just think we're a chance of heading towards where rugby is.
"I like the concept of our game being continuous, the ball in play a lot and with some big, fast, powerful and exciting impacts. I get a feeling some of the bigger guys in our game are going to get forced out with this rule.'
As Charles Darwin said, only the fittest will survive.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE INTERCHANGE RULE
1908 No replacements, even for injured players.
1970 Two replacements for injured players allowed at any time, provided they had played at least half of a lower-grade game.
1988 Two fresh reserves allowed.
1991 Interchange rule introduced. Four players (two fresh reserves and two who must have played at least half of the preceding lower-grade game) could be used in unlimited interchanges.
This was introduced to limit the spread of blood-borne diseases but it angered fans and prompted another change, this time to a maximum of four replacements and six interchanges.
1996 Unlimited interchange reintroduced.
2001 Limited interchange reintroduced allowing four replacements and a maximum of 12 interchanges.
2008 Number of interchanges reduced from 12 to 10.
OTHER CHANGES FOR 2008
As well as the new interchange law,there are a number of variations to rules this season. They include:
* Stripping the ball is permitted if the ball carrier is attempting to score a try.
* The grapple and crusher tackles will be closely policed and any prolonged contact with head or neck penalised.
* Efforts are being made to tidy up the scrums and prevent players breaking prematurely. The loosehead prop must have his outside leg forward so the halfback puts the ball into a tunnel.
* A quick 20m restart is permitted whether the defence is ready or not.
* Kickers will be given more protection, with tacklers prohibited from dangerous contact.
* Video referees can be called on to check on ball stripping.
* Goal-line re-starts must be done within a standard time. Referees can warn teams and then give a penalty kick 10m out if the warning is ignored.