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Let's just flop this right on the bench. Anything that is pretty good, is not going to get better, or be more enjoyable, if you decrease the time you get to enjoy it. I've gone to three games now, so I think I've given it a fair go. But I have this nagging feeling in one more game, I'll have missed out on a whole half of rugby. Do I like rugby? Yes. Would I like to see more rugby in Perth? Yes. So can someone please explain this whole "less is more" thing to me?
And while I have my grumpy key wound up. Can we chat about this experimental rules thing? In particular, who these rules are aimed at. As a rugby fan of some years, I've watched the rules get looked at fairly regularly. Pretty much every season the Whistle Men decide that a rule or two need some colour added to it's interpretation. But beneath this, rugby still remained rugby. I was ok with that. I think it has progressed the game without.. ..turning it into a circus.
Basically. I'm pretty happy with how rugby works.
So lets look at the Rapid Rugby rules;
No touch latitude from within the 22 meter area of your panic zone. I guess this means people will keep the ball in play more? But you regularly see teams carrying the ball past the sanctuary of the 22 before kicking it anyway. So this rule does not pass the needed test. In fact kicking duels that involve cleaver use of touch are bloody entertaining. I know this is supposed to get teams to run the ball more, but which coach is going to tell their charges to fuck around with possession under their own posts. So it fails that test too. Nope I don't like it.
Getting a line out throw, that you don't deserve, off a long kick to touch. Wait?! So now you are going to try to encourage the ball into touch by boot. When part of the last mod I looked at was about getting a bit more running in the game? Make up your mind good Sirs. Allowing a line out feed off penalty kicks to touch actually makes some sense. But you'll get no more out of me than that. If you put the ball out, then you can sweat on getting it off the other team with a smidgen of work. Nope I don't like it.
The POWER TRY. One of the things I like in my rugby viewing is watching the play ebb and flow around the field. Keeping full backs and defensive wingers on their toes, watching for that play breaking kick. This whole "Run the ball like you stole it" mentality totally flies in the face of that. I use to watch a bit of league once. Where pretty much all you get is people running the ball.. ..and running the ball.. .. and some more ball running. Give me some bloody colour in my football please. Nope I don't like it.
Here's the thing. I'm a rugby fan. I like rugby. It suits rugby fans like me. Turning it into basketball or AFL to try to get non rugby fans to watch it is not going to be a thing. Here's something to think about. Can rugby still be great if only rugby fans like it?
I'd also like to ask if we can restrict the jovial video interludes - which I actually quite enjoy - to the breaks in play? Oh hang on, there's fewer of them now that we're more rapid. Wait what?!
There's a little man in the back of my head with a hammer and a frying pan shouting that we are suffering all this because we needed the world body to sanction our tournament. If that is the case, fair bump play on. But lets not dump on all the rugby fans in an effort to scrounge a few extra folk who wont give a shit about the game 5 minutes after full time?