The NRL will introduce an 18th-man rule from round five as the game looks to combat a recent rise in the number of injuries and concussions.
Nathan Cleary is helped to his feet after a careless high tackle by Dallin Watene-Zelezniak of the Bulldogs a fortnight ago.The law will not come into effect for another fortnight, with the NRL giving itself another week to sort out the logistics. The commission agreed the 18th man must be an emerging player.
“This is a dynamic environment. As a commission, we have always said we would be agile in changing rules when it is in the best interests of the game and this is one of those examples,” V’landys said. The commission has also given approval for Friday night’s match between the Storm and Broncos to proceed at AAMI Park, subject to the approval by the Victorian government for Brisbane to be granted a travel exemption.A final decision on the location of the match will be made by midday Wednesday. If the game is unable to be played in Melbourne, it will become the second match in a Good Friday double header at Stadium Australia.
MichaelChammas I actually read that as an 18th-century rule 🤣