{"id":40142,"date":"2021-03-02T00:40:08","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T01:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=40142"},"modified":"2021-03-02T05:59:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T05:59:01","slug":"brutal-nrl-change-to-force-body-transformations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=40142","title":{"rendered":"Brutal NRL change to force body transformations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne Storm legend Billy Slater says he's a fan of the NRL's rule changes but admits the increased speed of the game will force a number of players to "strip a few kilos".<\/p>\n

After a successful 2020 season, the NRL last December confirmed a number of new rules<\/a> in order to make the game faster, more free-flowing and entertaining for fans.<\/p>\n

Following last season's introduction of the six-again rule for ruck infringements, changes to scrum situations will now continue the up-tempo pace of the game. The ball will typically be in play for longer now, with a play-the-ball restart to replace scrums when the ball is carried or kicked into touch.<\/p>\n

Season 2021 will also see 10-metre infringement penalties be replaced with the six-again ruling. <\/p>\n

The rule changes were on full display during last month's trial games, which was reportedly met with a number of frustrations from players who claimed they "couldn't breathe" with the increased intensity according to the Sydney Morning Herald.<\/a><\/p>\n

Asked if the rule changes were making the game too fast, Slater said. "I don't think so.<\/p>\n

\"Billy<\/p>\n

"I enjoy it. I like the game being fast, it's entertaining. I suppose I played at 87kg and it brought us little players back into the game.<\/p>\n

"Look, I think it's a great entertainment product. I think the rule changes last year worked. Teams and players will have had the off-season to practice and work on other little subtleties in the game that are going to get them an advantage with these rule changes.<\/p>\n

"The other thing is the new rule change with the scrums – I think it's a great place to attack from. Now policing defensive players to stay in the scrum, we've already seen a number of tries with the trials. The more and more these players experience these scrums and what they're feeling, they're going to come up with some real creative plays. I think it's a great thing for the game."<\/p>\n

Last weekend's trial showed the changes appeared to suit the South Sydney Rabbitohs, who thumped the Dragons 48-16 in the Charity Shield<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"2021<\/p>\n

With the game becoming more free-flowing as stoppage times reduce, it's expected the faster and more skillful players will takeover. South Sydney playmaker Cody Walker looked to be a prime example of that when he scored a hat-trick during an eight-minute period in the first half.<\/p>\n

Despite Slater admitting the "more unstructured" flow is "entertaining", the Queensland rugby league legend admits a number of players, especially the forwards, will need to ensure they're playing at a lighter weight to cope with the increased intensity.<\/p>\n

"The ball is in play more often, players are going to have to be fitter. They might have to strip a few kilos, the bigger guys. The game is always going to have big guys, it's always going to have little guys," Slater said.<\/p>\n

"Nelson Asofa-Solomona is 130-something kilos. There are some big poppas running around that are still making an effect and being able to play the game.<\/p>\n

"I think it's a lot more entertaining and a lot more unstructured. The instinctive players like Cody Walker, who we saw pick up three tries on the weekend in I think about eight minutes, those sort of players are really going to rise and take advantage of things."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melbourne Storm legend Billy Slater says he's a fan of the NRL's rule changes but admits the increased speed of the game will force a […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40142"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40142"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40144,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40142\/revisions\/40144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}