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Message: [QUOTE="GCBRONCO, post: 2648256, member: 1808"] [URL="http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/clubs-are-drilling-new-style-of-tackling-in-the-bid-to-rid-game-of-gang-tackles/story-fniabm4i-1227199962732"]http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/...-1227199962732[/URL] NRL clubs are drilling two-on-one and one-on-one tackles endlessly as they adjust to a new style of rugby league for 2015 which will hopefully usher wrestling out of the game. The Brisbane Broncos welcomed senior NRL referee Ben Cummins to training this week to coach them on how the controversial new ruck interpretations will officiated. Cummins refereed a high intensity opposed session and the result of the new interpretations was a dramatic increase in two on one tackling. Some Broncos players found it hard to adapt and were repeatedly penalised. The new ruck interpretation, which southern NRL coaches have threatened a coaching conference boycott over, means all defenders must peel off the attacker immediately once the referee calls held. Tactics of swarming the attacker with three and four defenders, holding him up, then individually peeling off will be penalised immediately. There is a theory the interpretation change will mean dummy halves will catch the third and fourth defender of a gang tackle off-side as they won’t have time to retreat. This tactic will see a greater emphasis on two on one tackling. Gang tackling has led to the longest play the balls in NRL history and allowed defence to dominate attack in recent seasons. Tries have decreased from an average of 8.4 per game in 2004 to 7.3 last season. At Broncos training, Cummins still rewarded good contact and the play the ball speeds were not at Super League rates. However, an opening month penalty-athon is inevitable as players adapt. Broncos Nines captain Andrew McCullough was among those caught hanging around too long in the ruck. “I got pinged a couple of times. We need to all get off the player at the same time and get our hands off the ball,” he told The Courier-Mail. “However, if you dominate the tackle you take all that out of it. McCullough said until the trials were finished he would not know how the new interpretation really affected the game. “It is hard to say at the moment. I will need a few trials to get an understanding,” he said. “We will need to get the gist of it first.” McCullough makes his Broncos captaincy debut this weekend and will help launch the NRL Nines tonight in Auckland. It is a deserved honour for the hooker who alongside Corey Parker has been the club’s most consistent player since the first Wayne Bennett era ended in 2008. The Broncos take an inexperienced but dangerous team to the Nines and have the athletic ability to shock their rivals. “With the Nines, you never know, but hanging onto the ball is massive because repeating tackles makes life very hard and you get gassed quickly,” McCullough said. [/QUOTE]

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