As rugby league prepares to celebrate its 125th anniversary, Jon Wells looks at what the modern game looks like and why it is better than ever
Tuesday 25 August 2020 15:50, UK
We are heading into the 125th anniversary weekend of the sport's inception, with Saturday's games marking 125 years to the day since the Northern Union came together in the George Hotel in Huddersfield and effectively founded the sport of rugby league.
We can wonder whether those who played in and watched the inaugural seasons of rugby league ever thought we would be celebrating the game's 125th anniversary; and what would they make of the sport now?
Perhaps the pioneers of the sport would have hoped that the spirit of rebellion and open-mindedness that forged a new direction and new opportunities 125 years ago would still be intact (and for what it's worth I think it is). Would they recognise what they saw on the field though? Because the game has never looked so different.
Everyone has spoken at length about the post-shutdown rule changes, centred on set restarts and the temporary elimination of scrums, and since the game got back up and running at the beginning of the month we now have a sample size of 11 games to take a closer look at. So, what has changed and what pressures have these changes placed on the players? In short, what has been the athletic response to the start of a new chapter in the life of the sport?
The first, and most obvious, point to make is that the game has emerged from the COVID pandemic shutdown faster and more intense, with fewer breaks in play. To offer some figures:
Source: SUPER LEAGUE
The change here is clear, stark even. And it has, to date, not impacted on quality and entertainment (more on that later). So, what about the work the players are getting through now?
Source: SUPER LEAGUE
The general take-ways from these statistics appear to mirror what we are seeing on the field. Players are running further, for longer, with less downtime and doing more work. The volume threshold for all players appears to be going up.
Penalties are down 24 per cent and the error count is markedly up - this is down in large part to the set restart rule. Penalties signal stoppages in play, certainly the reduction in the number of penalties is not a concern; errors that would have previously led to scrums or other breaks in play are a natural by-product of a faster game with quicker handovers and a "back to the action" attitude that does not appear to detract from the spectacle perhaps as the figures would suggest.
There is a danger that statistics can sometimes mask other underlying nuances, lead us to think that individual or team performances are better or worse than they actually are, or otherwise prove at odds with the quality sporting product we are watching. But essentially rugby league - as with all sport - exists for our entertainment. And the overwhelming consensus at the moment is that rugby league in its current and evolved guise is damn good entertainment.
Players are now routinely making more tackles than minutes spent on the pitch; the game is faster, shorter, more intense and absolutely no less enjoyable. That athletic response is palpably visible when you watch the game now; "blink and you'll miss it".
I have yet to speak to a detractor when discussing the quality and integrity of the post-lockdown Super League games we have seen. But that's not to say there isn't danger lurking around the corner. The season and its physical and mental demands has a cumulative effect on the player pool. Injuries will inevitable play their part, as they always do, and yet there is a growing feeling - particularly in the NRL, where several coaches have spoken frankly about the unintended consequences of the Set Restart rule and its contribution to the casualty ward Down Under - that this season may see a ballooning of the injury toll, particularly when mid-week games are introduced in October. Fatigue is not a conquerable condition. Is this sustainable?
That's not to say mitigating actions cannot be taken. I have been advocating the temporary increase of interchanges from eight to 10 for some time now because I see it as a way to assist the players in particular and the sport in general in maintaining the quality of the product deep into the business end of the season. My Sky Sports colleague Barrie McDermott recently submitted an excellent article which looked at the possibility of using the 18th man exclusively as a replacement in the event of a failed Head Injury Assessment because of the actions of an opposing player - surely one of the genuine anomalies in our sport at the moment - why should a team be disadvantaged numerically through no fault of their own?
I would go further and say that if the 18th man is to be named as your HIA replacement, then your 19th man is reserved to come into the 17-man team who take the field should a player be injured in warm-up. All of these will help to preserve the speed, ferocity, skill, and breathless nature of the sport as well as helping uphold quality and mitigate against injury and fatigue.
To get back to where we started. The athletic response is clear. I've never enjoyed watching rugby league more than I am right now. And with some careful management and forethought there is no reason why we cannot continue to witness and be wowed by the best version of our sport, right through to the Grand Final.
There is a Norwegian rock group called Animal Alpha who released an album called "You Pay for the Whole Seat, but You'll Only Need the Edge". I couldn't think of a better epithet for this game right now - and it's right up there in the list of great album titles too!
