{"id":614410,"date":"2026-04-18T05:09:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T05:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/614410\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T05:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T05:09:13","slug":"robinson-delivers-verdict-on-nrls-six-again-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/614410\/","title":{"rendered":"Robinson delivers verdict on NRL’s six-again debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trent Robinson claims the NRL’s rule changes have caused unprecedented swings in momentum as the debate around set restarts intensifies.<\/p>\n

Robinson’s Sydney Roosters side fought back from a 22-6 first-half deficit to defeat Cronulla 34-22 last Saturday in what turned out to be one of the highest-scoring weekends in NRL history.<\/p>\n

After a round where an average of 58 points were scored across eight games, the NRL’s new six-again rules have been in the spotlight with clubs and the players’ union voicing concern.<\/p>\n

Over the off-season League Central tinkered with the set-restart laws, moving the six-again threshold from the 40-metre line back to the 20-metre mark in a bid to open up the game ahead of broadcast rights negotiations.<\/p>\n

Robinson, whose Roosters’ outfit (3-2) host Newcastle (4-2) at Allianz Stadium on Sunday, said the impact had been noticeable.<\/p>\n

“There’s been runs of tries, so defence is still really key in being able to handle those momentum swings,” Robinson said.<\/p>\n

“Your attack must be on-song, when it (momentum) turns in your favour and you must be able to capitalise.<\/p>\n

“There’s probably been bigger swings this year than probably in any time in rugby league just because of rule changes.<\/p>\n

“Having a really complementary footy based on both attack and defence is key.”<\/p>\n

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has been the most ardent critic of the six-again rule, accusing NRL bosses of losing “the fabric of the game”.<\/p>\n

South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett, however, stood in sharp opposition to Stuart, highlighting how monotonous and slow rugby league had been before the six-again rule’s introduction in 2020.<\/p>\n

Robinson appears to be somewhere in the middle, claiming the competition is in “the right spot” when there are lowscoring, attritional games just as frequently as matches when there is a glut of points.<\/p>\n

“Let the teams decide on the day what it looks like,” Robinson said.<\/p>\n

“The referee should have freedom to allow that to happen as well.”<\/p>\n

Last week’s victory over the Sharks was the first time Robinson had rolled out his first-choice spine alongside influential lock Victor Radley, who had returned from a club-enforced suspension.<\/p>\n

\"Victor<\/p>\n

Victor Radley’s return has been a boon for the Roosters. (Mark Kolbe\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Robinson is hoping to see more of the same attacking enterprise against a Knights side that will welcome back star five-eighth Dylan Brown.<\/p>\n

“Victor knows our Roosters style of play as good as anybody, and (about) him fitting into those combinations,” Robinson said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve had one game, but we can think we can see really clearly how we want to play.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trent Robinson claims the NRL’s rule changes have caused unprecedented swings in momentum as the debate around set…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,7291,16205,85,1080,4737,4534],"class_list":{"0":"post-614410","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-ricky-stuart","14":"tag-rule-changes","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-sydney-roosters","17":"tag-trent-robinson","18":"tag-victor-radley"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614410","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=614410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}