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Message: [QUOTE="Thelmus, post: 3137464, member: 8988"] But that's the thing, the 6 again hasn't caused the problem, only exassibated it. For too long we have believed the answer to an ever more successful defence is to wear down players to the point that it is the primary factor in who wins and who loses. When a casual observer watches the game what do they notice? Flying wingers leaping for bombs, big tackles, sweeping backline moves, big men crashing through defenders. Well none of that will decide a game. The flying wingers put possession under threat, sweeping backing moves make it harder to kick in goal, big men can crash into the line and be waltzed around, effectively turning it into a negative tactic. That is to say nothing of the long gone days of wingers skirting the touch line. These things thankfully still happen but they are rarer and rarer, and incidental next to the real decider that is play-the-ball speed and possession. How many casual spectators truly gain pleasure watching a carefully orchestrated 3 man tackle that puts the runner on his back and holds him. Because that is now the most important skill to have, along with tying up the runner upright. Slow play-the-balls and goal line dropouts, enough of them will beat a team with 4 or 5 Greg influx clones and 3 or 4 Artie Beetson's every game. If we are to save this game we must look at what makes people watch sport. It's 2 things: drama and it's unpredictable nature. For drama to work you need characters you can relate to. I'm not saying we let players be anti-social, but at least let them be themselves. Let them complain about the result and the referee, even each other. Draw a line sure but don't try and micro-manage player personalities. Every drama needs a villain, so let the gallens and lodges have their say, let the Ricky Stuart's whinge, the Bellamy's throw tantrums. And let the game be decide by the skills that matter: the ones we want to see. But make sure the rules allow comebacks and allow some uncertainty to the result. Because a predictable game is like a sword fight in a musical: no matter how skillful and pretty, it is ultimately unfulfilling. [/QUOTE]

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