Should we bring back contested scrums in rugby league?

[L'irlandais]

[textarea]Article from the Guardian
It’s technically legal but fighting for possession is all but dead. A revival would make the game more random and exciting[/textarea]

So would contested scrums be a good thing for RL? :holysheep:

 

[Camquin]

Why not introduce competition for the ball after the tackle as well
Perhaps have a competition for the all after a throw in, maybe introduce a couple of extra forwards.
I think if you did that, you might have a game.

Camquin

 

[Ian_Cook]

[textarea]Article from the Guardian
It’s technically legal but fighting for possession is all but dead. A revival would make the game more random and exciting[/textarea]

So would contested scrums be a good thing for RL? :holysheep:

Firstly, pushing in the scrums IS still legal, and occasionally, it does happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PczZmYdQWqY#t=208

Secondly, it could be dangerous if it were to become the done thing all of a sudden because RL props have been "bred" away from the requirements for front row play. Put it this way. Would you be happy to take a couple of randomly chosen RL props/hookers and drop them straight into the front row of an RU scrum at a similar age and playing level?

 

[leaguerefaus]

Many of the changes which RL has made in the past few years have been about speeding it up, so it would be a backwards step to go back to contested scrums which are often required to be repacked.

I love scrums in union but it's not something I would like to see in league again.

 

[Ricardowensleydale]

Surely we should work on getting contested scrums back in RU first.

 

[4eyesbetter]

I do wonder at the mindset of someone who watches the current state of union scrums and then goes "you know what? we really need this in our game!" It smells of someone who agreed to write the column and then the deadline sneaked up on him and he was scratching around for something to fill the space. Which is a shame, because they have had some interesting ideas in there.

 

[Pegleg]

Surely we should work on getting contested scrums back in RU first.

Excellent comment.

I'll leave the League boys to decide what they want in their game. I wish people would stop comparing the two games. The two games are, at best, distant relatives NOT clones. Let's leave it that way.

 

[Ciaran Trainor]

I've seen a few scrums won against the head and feed in league over recent seasons. You can only get away with it a couple of times a game with a coordinated shove but most teams never try it which I think is crazy when there is a real chance of surprising the opposition and winning back possession.

 

[dave_clark]

is there not a significant safety risk in a one-off league scrum all of a sudden being competitive? if the opposition are expecting a passive scrum, surely it's highly likely to collapse...

 

[leaguerefaus]

is there not a significant safety risk in a one-off league scrum all of a sudden being competitive? if the opposition are expecting a passive scrum, surely it's highly likely to collapse...

I've never had a scrum collapse when a team's decided to push. Keep in mind that in RL we are no where near as close to the ground when we scrummage, thus a lot less likely to not be able to support ourselves.

 

[dave_clark]

fair enough, makes sense i guess.

 

[TigerCraig]

Bring back stripping the ball and striking for the ball in the play the ball first. League is the only football sport where there is no contest for possession.

I was a pretty ordinary league player in my day, but one thing I could do was rake the ball back from the play the ball.