With six-again restarts now awarded for 10-metre infringements as well as ruck violations, the ball will be in play for longer and the game more relentless. Extra fatigue will open up play, as will a scrum rule tweak that demands the packs remain properly bound until the referee calls 'break', under threat of a full penalty.<\/p>\n
"I think it's going to be more attacking. Looking at the trials and speaking to a few players, they said it's a lot faster, which is only going to be better to watch," Johns told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n
"More tired players, quicker play-the-balls, more ball movement. I think a lot of the clubs are still adjusting in how they train their players, body shapes and stuff, for the game. There's going to be a lot of attack – it's exciting."<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yet Johns also issued a word of caution over the rule additions. He believes that they could entrench the NRL as a league of haves and have nots. Being well-drilled is now less likely to cover up a talent deficit.<\/p>\n
"The difference this year between the really strong teams and the weak teams is going to get bigger and bigger," Johns told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n
"With more room to move, the halves will be able to weave their magic. I think you saw that in the Charity Shield, where Cody [Walker] and Adam Reynolds had that room to move and then they brought their outside men into the play. They just looked so dangerous.<\/p>\n
"The team with the better halves, who get over the advantage line and play, they'll have a big advantage. I think gone are the days when all those set plays that teams put a lot of effort into … I think they'll be going out the window."<\/p>\n
As such, the teams stacked with elite talent are the ones Johns expects to again feature in premiership contention: The Rabbitohs, Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Eels and Raiders.<\/p>\n
South Sydney<\/a> are high on Johns' radar not just due to Walker, Reynolds and Latrell Mitchell, but because of prototype middle forwards like Cameron Murray and Jai Arrow.<\/p>\n 'I think gone are the when you have some big guys at 130, 135 kilos. They'll have to get down to 115, 120; which is still pretty big," Johns said.<\/p>\n "Blokes like Cam Murray, these mobile forwards with footwork and ball skills, that's the way of the future. Souths look very dangerous.<\/p>\n "I've seen that Andrew Fifita's dropped 10 or 12 kilos, so he's aware of it. They're going to have to be lighter. The conditioners are going to have to lighten their weights. More endurance and other than that, speed and power."<\/p>\n The top eight teams were all within the finals placings by round 12 last season. There was a four-point gap between the eighth and ninth position by round 14, which did not close until the final round (round 20). Even so, Cronulla made the finals with a historically poor record, losing as many games as they won (10-10).<\/p>\n A potential further erosion of overall competitiveness will be of concern to a league that prides itself on closeness. It may also entrench downturns for struggling clubs, who can generally rely on quick bounce-backs thanks to the salary cap, if they now perform so poorly as to deter potential signing targets.<\/p>\n While the talent gulf is one concern with the rule changes, Johns flagged another possible issue: Teams artificially forcing stoppages in play to catch a breath.<\/p>\n "I think they've got to be careful with it," he said.<\/p>\n "I was talking to one of the players and he reckons that when an opposition plainly drops the ball, they should drop the ball also, just to give themselves a bit of a rest, so it's not so helter-skelter.<\/p>\n "But once again, it just puts the onus back on the players; don't be offside, or the opposition get a six-to-go."<\/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<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n