NRL playmakers Adam Reynolds and Nicho Hynes have hailed the change the league has made to its approach to obstruction ahead of the new season, which should combat the game's problem with "milking".
But another star of the competition, rampaging Wests Tigers centre Justin Olam, has revealed he's sceptical of the change, which will allow officials to rule with discretion, beginning with the pre-season clash between the Sharks and Warriors on Friday night.
Hynes also urged the NRL to make its new interpretation as clear as possible by demonstrating with the use of video replays from the 2024 season.
"We have provided clarity on some key principles in relation to the refereeing of obstruction," said NRL head of football Graham Annesley this week, "as well as the considerations for match officials in applying those principles."
The Sydney Morning Herald reported the 17 clubs were further informed: "A try will be awarded, if in the opinion of match officials, any contact between a lead runner and a defender would not have prevented the try from being scored".
Justin Olam of Wests Tigers. Getty
Reynolds said the interpretation change was a "fair call".
"The NRL are always trying to get a better product out there and a more enjoyable product for the fans to watch … I'm happy with the way they keep tinkering with things to try to get that product as close to perfect as can be," Reynolds told Wide World of Sports.
"I think common sense needs to play a part in it. Sometimes as players we can milk an obstruction from 30 metres in-field and it has no impact on the play, so those sort of ones, I think, can be eradicated out of the game.
"Some of it has to be a bit black and white, I would say."
Adam Reynolds on the attack for the Broncos. Getty
Hynes believes the officials are cluey enough to be able to rule consistently with discretion.
"It's great. I think it's exactly what we need. I feel like the officials are smart enough to know whether someone could actually have a genuine [chance] of making the tackle or whether they've just fallen over," Hynes told WWOS.
"I think it's going to be great for the game because you don't want to see players diving, you don't want to see fans getting upset or teams losing a game because someone's trying to bend the rules a little bit in a game. So I feel like it's going to be a good call.
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"Maybe the NRL need to come out and show examples from last year of what's not considered and what is considered [obstruction] … just so the fans can see what is legitimately diving or what isn't."
The NRL has flip-flopped between ruling on obstruction with discretion and making black and white calls multiple times over the past decade.
Hynes said fans were deserving of the latest crackdown on milking because they paid their "hard-earned money to … watch the best game in the world".
Nicho Hynes celebrates a win in Sharks colours. Getty
"They want to see the highest-quality game," Hynes said.
"And if we're taking the easy option and jumping into a player to fall over so the other team doesn't score a try, it doesn't reflect the effort that the fans go through to get to a game. We need to put the effort in to try and save a try and not be obstructed."
But Olam is dubious.
"How do you see if someone's milking a penalty? How can you be sure?" said the PNG Kumuls international.
"As long as they're consistent with what they're doing … but then like I said, how do you make sure if someone is milking a penalty? They may be genuinely hurt."
