A no-try decision against Penrith in last year’s preliminary final win against Cronulla angered Ivan Cleary, who claimed the decision was “terrible” and that officials had “no understanding” of what his team was trying to achieve. After the interpretation tweak, the same play would result in a try in 2025.
In relation to play-the-balls, the NRL is calling for the tackled player “to make a genuine attempt to play the ball with the foot while maintaining balance”.
“In 2025, if players do not meet the required standard, the referee will order a handover of possession as prescribed under the rules,” the memo states.
To ensure defenders are back a genuine 10 metres, they will be required to have both feet in line with, or behind where the referee rules the line. Players won’t be able to move forward until the whistleblower says “go”, rather than when the ball is placed on the ground or any other indicator.
The pre-season will also be a trial for the new sin-bin rules for high tackles, which are as follows:
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- If a victim of a high tackle is removed for a category-one head-injury assessment, or fails a category-two and can’t return to the field, the player who commits the offence will be sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes.
- If the victim of the high tackle remains on the field or passes the category-two assessment and is eligible to continue the game – regardless of whether they come back on or not – the player who committed the offence will not go to the sin bin.
The referee will still have the discretion to send players from the field for the rest of the game in the case of serious offences. The trial will be monitored by the ARL Commission and may be repeated later in the season in games that have no bearing on the finals.
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