I wondered about that too. I'd have a rule where any stoppage for an injured player requires them to leave the field for 2 sets at least.

Imo any player who appears "injured" at a drop out should be treated in the in goal area (unless serious) & the game to carry on. We'd soon see who was really hurt & who wasnt.

WRT golden point its a farce & should only be used for knock out games.

I'm not sure why the game is always stopped for injury nowadays regardless of the position of the injured player on the field. Surely common sense should allow the game to continue if at all possible.

The thing is, with the head trauma issues etc players and coaches are able to milk the system sometimes. Theres been times a player has gone off for a head test when its obvious to everyone its nothing to do with that. That's just abusing the system put in to protect players.



Rugby league needs to flow, its why we brought the rules in we did, when we did. I agree that if the player is out of the way of the ball play shouldn't stop, harsh but fair and as long as this is applied uniformly then I would have no truck with it.

From what I read (or at least my interpretation) was that any ‘injured’ player at a drop out will either have to be substituted or if not, has to leave the field and cannot come back on until the next stoppage in play (scrum, drop out, try etc)

I agree, it would stop the time wasters instantly. Any player genuinely injured could be substituted and the team would then still have 13 players on the field.

If that's right it's a step forward.

At least we have Lolohea to knock one over. Last year I never fancied us to get a 1 pointer with our squad.

The problem is they go down injured in-field otherwise the ref would carry on at the moment. I don’t think you can have a rule that means we are moving potentially injured players.



I think maybe we need something whereby if a player goes down injured and needs play to be stopped to be treated then that player misses 3/4/5 tackles of the next set of 6 until he can come back on, a bit like in football where if a player needs treatment he then has to go off until the ref allows him back on. They’re a tough bunch are RL players so if a player is hurt enough he actually needs treatment by the physio/doctor then having a minute on the sidelines is probably for the best anyway.

Might just be easier to allow the attacking side an 8 or 9 tackle set when play resumes

I think they do for the most part unless it’s a head injury. It’s actually rare to see the game stopped for an injury unless they’re in the way of play. The problem is the feigning of injuries during stoppages like drop outs, scrums etc.

It used to be rare but last season saw a lot of stoppages for injuries even in back play. I'm not sure why that changed.