National Rugby League (NRL)

[AussieBengal]

With the premier Rugby League competition in the world, the NRL, starting in less than a week I thought it might be worth putting a thread in here for anyone looking for something to follow until the NFL starts. Rugby League is a sport that developed from Rugby, much like American Football did, it has closer links to Rugby than American Football maintained. A couple of highlights packages from last season for anyone interested.

[SunsetBengal]

Never played Rugby, but likely would have embraced it, had it been popular where I lived when I was growing up. I do watch a bit of Rugby, here and there. I have a question, how does NRL play differ from traditional Rugby? Most of what I stumble onto on television here is Seven's Leagues. I find them to be fast paced and fun to watch.

[AussieBengal]

(03-10-2019, 12:09 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Never played Rugby, but likely would have embraced it, had it been popular where I lived when I was growing up.  I do watch a bit of Rugby, here and there.  I have a question, how does NRL play differ from traditional Rugby?  Most of what I stumble onto on television here is Seven's Leagues.  I find them to be fast paced and fun to watch.

The biggest difference is the removal of the ruck, the scrum like thing after the tackle. Rugby League replaced that with a "play the ball". The player stands up after a tackle and rolls the ball backwards with his foot with a player then picking up the ball and play continues. It is a much faster paced game than traditional Rugby. Each side has 13 players compared to Rugby's 15 and we have limited tackle (downs in NFL) with each side having 6 before they have to turn the ball over to the opposition. The NRL is probably the premier domestic Rugby competition in the world amongst both forms of Rugby and is one of the most popular sports in Australia. A couple of players have attempted the transition to the NFL.