{"id":441871,"date":"2026-01-28T01:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T01:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/441871\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T01:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T01:29:10","slug":"deal-with-it-madges-take-on-rule-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/441871\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Deal with it\u2019: Madge\u2019s take on rule changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Broncos coach Michael Maguire has hailed the proposed NRL rule changes as \u201cinteresting\u201d but says he\u2019ll simply have to deal with them if the controversial adjustments are brought in for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s hard to argue with extended match day squads that would allow six players on the bench or changes to 20m restarts in the act of scoring, the NRL is receiving plenty of pushback with its other proposed rule tweaks.<\/p>\n

The biggest issue so far has been with the proposed kick-off change where the team that has been scored against has the choice to receive or kick off.<\/p>\n

As it stands, the team that concedes points restarts play with a kick-off, but that could change in 2026 in a bid to reduce the momentum swings in games.<\/p>\n

\"Clubs<\/p>\n

Clubs are pushing back as the NRL tries to make changes to the kick-off rule. Picture: NRL Photos<\/p>\n

The clubs are vehemently against it, especially when you consider teams can opt for a short kick-off to contest the restart in a bid to win back possession anyway.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kick-off rule will be an interesting one,\u201d Maguire said on SEN radio.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at that and think how you can challenge that as a coach or use that to your advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople talk about momentum, but then you\u2019re going to look at the short kick-off and things like that if you need to get the ball back.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve just got to work with the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maguire mastered the 2025 rules as he led the Brisbane Broncos to premiership glory, and he\u2019s willing to accept whatever the NRL throws his way this season.<\/p>\n

That includes a major change to ruck penalties where set restarts would be awarded instead for infringements outside the attacking team\u2019s 20m zone compared with outside the 40m area in 2025.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

Michael Maguire will accept whatever changes are brought in as he hopes to lead the Broncos to another title. Picture: Adam Head<\/p>\n

That would lead to frenetic attacking play that would exhaust bigger bodies and ill-disciplined teams as we saw during the Covid years when the good sides would run up cricket scores.<\/p>\n

The trials start next weekend, so it\u2019s vital for the NRL to make a call on these rules in the coming days to give teams enough time to adjust for the new season.<\/p>\n

Brisbane will again be one of the favourites, with Maguire dismissing concerns over travel to the UK when his side takes on Hull KR in the World Club Challenge on February 20 (AEDT).<\/p>\n

\u201cThat one is probably going to be an interesting one with our big men and the speed of the game,\u201d Maguire replied when asked about the ruck interpretations.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

The NRL is considering making changes to the set restart rule. Picture: Phil Walter\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThey (the NRL) like to keep the ball in play, and I can sort of understand what the game is doing because they\u2019re trying to improve the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut for me, I just go \u2018whatever they give us, we\u2019ve got to deal with it\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had rule changes over the last few years. I\u2019m a traditionalist at times and I look back (in the past) and I\u2019m not sure about that rule change, but the game is flying with the number of people watching it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be interesting, and for the big man it\u2019ll be a challenge if we have a few more six-agains.<\/p>\n

\u201cPenalties in between the 20m line and the 40m line have been a bit grey because that\u2019s where refs are scrutinised, so they\u2019re looking at it and going \u2018why don\u2019t we move the game a bit quicker so we\u2019ve got things going\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Broncos coach Michael Maguire has hailed the proposed NRL rule changes as \u201cinteresting\u201d but says he\u2019ll simply have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,5366,6407,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-441871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-broncos","tag-michael-maguire","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}