NRL head of football Graham Annesley has again defended the rule, telling The Agenda Setters<\/a> on Monday night that it is all about a \u201cfair contest for the ball when the ball goes in the air\u201d.<\/p>\n Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n According to the NRL website, the ruling of the penalty is characterised by three different infringements: if a player is arriving at the contest early, focusing on impeding the defensive player and not the ball or jumping through the contest, and making unnecessary contact.<\/p>\n \u201cThe disruptor is all about obstruction and interference with players who don\u2019t have the ball,\u201d Annesley said on The Agenda: Rugby League<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to go back to a situation where kick-chases have no intention to try and enter a contest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir sole objective was to try and take a receiver out, so he would either spill the ball, or he\u2019d be taken out before he had the chance to receive the ball.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t do that; we can\u2019t go back to open season.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there is a genuine contest and a player spills the ball, that\u2019s OK, but it needs to be a genuine contest.\u201d<\/p>\n Annesley came out publicly on Sunday saying there would be no changes to the \u201cdisruptor\u201d interpretation, confirming that players are still allowed to compete for kicks with a one-handed contest.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 965 days in wilderness worth it for Tiger’s NRL return <\/p>\n 2 min read<\/p>\n![\"Graham](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/96cdc31a2b2d33a2657a2be13e85c48a7b35e612.png\")
Graham Annesley on The Agenda Setters: Rugby League. Credit: 7 Sport<\/p>\n