{"id":562631,"date":"2026-03-25T05:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T05:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/562631\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T05:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T05:05:09","slug":"obstruction-crackdown-nrl-preparing-to-tackle-defensive-trend-warns-clubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/562631\/","title":{"rendered":"Obstruction crackdown: NRL preparing to tackle defensive trend, warns clubs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NRL has warned clubs that referees will be actively enforcing obstruction rules should players continue to form illegal defensive walls to protect fullbacks and wingers.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s according to message from NRL head of football Graham Annesley reported in the Sydney Morning Herald.<\/p>\n

Several clubs have used the controversial ploy in the opening weeks of 2026, most noticeably the Eels<\/a> who formed an obvious wall to shield their No.1 Isaiah Iongi from Dragons<\/a> kick chasers in Round 3 last Sunday.<\/p>\n

While not a rule change per se, the NRL wants all 17 clubs to know a crackdown is on the way.<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0\u2018Couldn\u2019t execute a thing\u2019 – Pressure mounts on Dragons halves ahead of Titans clash<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a noticeable increase in incidents where players intentionally move towards a teammate who is attempting to catch a kick in general play,\u201d Annesley is reported<\/a> to have warned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile players are permitted to move toward the ball and take up a position, this does not override the clear obligation all players have under the International Laws of the Game to not obstruct an opponent who is not in possession of the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, warning of a crackdown is one thing.<\/p>\n

Whether clubs listen\u2014or match officials are able to effectively police the ruling\u2014remains to be seen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NRL has warned clubs that referees will be actively enforcing obstruction rules should players continue to form…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-562631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562631","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=562631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}