HarVeeGee13
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
This is going to sound like making excuses for poor player performance, but the stupid Vlandys six again rule has totally upended player value, changing what traits are most important in forwards particularly, and we’re one of the teams being affected the worst.
When we signed David Klemmer, he was one of the best props in the NRL. He had every trait you wanted - he’s a big monster who can come off the back fence with 15-20 strong charges a game, carry four guys with him for sometimes 10+ post contact metres, and defenders trying to push the line speed to prevent him from getting that momentum had the threat of an offside penalty hanging over their heads to prevent them from rushing up on him too much. Defensively he wasn’t known as a hitman, but he’s as safe as it comes, pretty much never misses a tackle or makes a defensive error, etc.
On a whim, Peter Vlandys decides that ruck infringements and 10 metre encroachments shouldn’t result in downfield kicks anymore, just a six again which, I’m sorry, is no penalty for the defensive team at all. Now all of a sudden the big ogre who hits it up strong, those middle workhorses who can play huge minutes, they’re not the best forwards anymore. The best prop in the NRL is now James Fisher-Harris - 6’2”, 103kg, a guy whose best traits are his line speed & effective first contact in defence. These were always important traits, and he’s a good yardage player, but the fact is until the end of 2019 he had more NRL games in the back row than the front. Penrith has an army of forwards of about this size (their only forward who weighs more than 110kg is Kikau, who has a specific role as an attacking weapon & doesn’t play huge minutes for a back rower) who can get up off the line quickly and swarm the ball carrier in defence. Leota, Leniu etc were always going to be good players but now they’re kind of exactly what you want and the fact they’re not amazing yardage guys isn’t a big deal anymore - having a bit of footwork and ball skills around the ruck is actually better than being able to rev up for a big charge at the moment. Yeo their lock forward used to play on an edge, but he’s light enough on his feet to play centre so now he’s an elite 13.
Meanwhile the big momentum prop is being met approximately 0.2 second after catching the ball by *definitely onside* players (another problem with the six again rules is that they’re barely ever even awarded a lot of the time) and being driven back in a way which just did not happen previously.
Yes, our guys should get off the line quicker and hit harder. I’m not arguing against that. But I am saying that when you’re 6’6” and 120kg, doing that is more difficult. There is no chance at all, zero, zip, nada, that a team playing in the NRL under these rules would spend $800K+ on a player like David Klemmer. We are being punished for our failure to predict rule changes no one knew were coming and recruit accordingly. It’s horribly unfair, we’re not the only team affected, yet barely anyone talks about this.
When we signed David Klemmer, he was one of the best props in the NRL. He had every trait you wanted - he’s a big monster who can come off the back fence with 15-20 strong charges a game, carry four guys with him for sometimes 10+ post contact metres, and defenders trying to push the line speed to prevent him from getting that momentum had the threat of an offside penalty hanging over their heads to prevent them from rushing up on him too much. Defensively he wasn’t known as a hitman, but he’s as safe as it comes, pretty much never misses a tackle or makes a defensive error, etc.
On a whim, Peter Vlandys decides that ruck infringements and 10 metre encroachments shouldn’t result in downfield kicks anymore, just a six again which, I’m sorry, is no penalty for the defensive team at all. Now all of a sudden the big ogre who hits it up strong, those middle workhorses who can play huge minutes, they’re not the best forwards anymore. The best prop in the NRL is now James Fisher-Harris - 6’2”, 103kg, a guy whose best traits are his line speed & effective first contact in defence. These were always important traits, and he’s a good yardage player, but the fact is until the end of 2019 he had more NRL games in the back row than the front. Penrith has an army of forwards of about this size (their only forward who weighs more than 110kg is Kikau, who has a specific role as an attacking weapon & doesn’t play huge minutes for a back rower) who can get up off the line quickly and swarm the ball carrier in defence. Leota, Leniu etc were always going to be good players but now they’re kind of exactly what you want and the fact they’re not amazing yardage guys isn’t a big deal anymore - having a bit of footwork and ball skills around the ruck is actually better than being able to rev up for a big charge at the moment. Yeo their lock forward used to play on an edge, but he’s light enough on his feet to play centre so now he’s an elite 13.
Meanwhile the big momentum prop is being met approximately 0.2 second after catching the ball by *definitely onside* players (another problem with the six again rules is that they’re barely ever even awarded a lot of the time) and being driven back in a way which just did not happen previously.
Yes, our guys should get off the line quicker and hit harder. I’m not arguing against that. But I am saying that when you’re 6’6” and 120kg, doing that is more difficult. There is no chance at all, zero, zip, nada, that a team playing in the NRL under these rules would spend $800K+ on a player like David Klemmer. We are being punished for our failure to predict rule changes no one knew were coming and recruit accordingly. It’s horribly unfair, we’re not the only team affected, yet barely anyone talks about this.
Don’t think they could do that these days with all the concussions and injuries though.
