Northern Beaches football clubs crack hybrid game between codes
Jon Geddes •
Manly Daily •
January 10, 2014 12:00AM
IT has taken two northern beaches football clubs to pull off what the Australian Rugby Union and English Rugby League couldn't - organising a hybrid game between the rival codes.
The Newport Breakers rugby club and their neighbourhood rivals from the Avalon Bulldogs rugby league team will play the ground breaking match on March 15.
The Battle of the Codes came about Breakers and Bulldogs players decided it was time to sort out once and for all which code is the strongest.
The two clubs will play 25 minutes of rugby, 25 minutes of rugby league and 25 minutes under hybrid rules at Hitchcock Park in Avalon.
"The field position of the team in possession determining the mode of play in the hybrid game," said Newport president David Hunt.
"The team in possession in their own half plays rugby league rules and when they cross the half way with the ball the rules then switch to rugby union."
Both teams will have 13 players and a decision on whether there are contested scrums will made based on the front row Avalon put together.
There will be a rugby and rugby league referee for each half of the field.
ARU Chief Executive Bill Pulver and English Rugby League boss Nigel Wood had discussions about the Wallabies playing the Great Britain rugby league team in a hybrid game at the end of this year.
The $10 million battle royale was to be staged at Wembley Stadium in December after the Wallabies' 2014 end-of-season tour.
But that proposed game will not go ahead after the English Rugby League pulled the pin on the idea.
"The argument goes back over 100 years as to which game is the toughest and most physical code," Hunt said.
"I know our players are chomping at the bit to give the Dogs a lesson in scrummaging and lineouts.
"The leaguies said the union boys aren't going to be able to tackle and I said you guys aren't going to see the ball."
Avalon secondrower Tim Goozee said while the Bulldogs may not see much of the ball in under rugby rules, their defence will be much better.
"Having the go-forward in league we will definitely be the fitter side and they won't be used to getting back the 10 metres," Goozee said.
"We should have them on the back foot the whole time.
"The only thing that is going to get us is in the ricks and the mauls."
The Bulldogs plan to get some ex-rugby players along to training help them with some of the intricacies of the other code.
