We managed to go four rounds in 2025 without some sort of crackdown or rule change.
It almost feels like a record.
It's not, of course, but that's the way the NRL seems to go every year.
The competition starts with a couple of relatively free from controversy rounds, then, someone - whether it be a journalist, a coach, a player or a doctor - blows up about something, and the next minute we have some new crackdown about to start.
This time, reports dropped on Monday evening suggest it's going to be a high tackle crackdown, with any contact above the shoulders seeing players sent to the sin bin.
That is reportedly the message the NRL's head of elite footy Graham Annesley sent to all clubs this weekend, with referees prepared to get tough in a hurry on high tackles.
The messaging which has been leaked seems to suggest the chance of mitigating circumstances - like an attacker slipping into a tackle - stopping a player from being sin binned will be removed.
It's going to create headaches, similar to what we have seen during previous high-tackle crackdowns.
You only need to cash the mind back to the infamous Magic Round crackdown a number of years ago to understand the depths of the ramifications available.
If a crackdown like this was enforced prior to Round 1, fans, players and coaches could get their heads around it, understanding the way the game is going to be played.
But there is no other sporting league in the world that shifts the goal posts in the middle of the season like the NRL tends to do.
This is, as mentioned, not the first high tackle crackdown. There have been others too, most notably around the ruck and the way infringements there are policed by the competition's already under pressure and highly criticised officiating group.
What makes this more alarming is that the rules - or crackdown as it were - seem to have been shifted on the back of some missed calls by both the bunker officials, and the NRL's match review committee, over the weekend.
And yes, we are going to have to talk about Reed Mahoney here, who was penalised twice for dangerous or high contact during the Canterbury Bulldogs' win over the Cronulla Sharks.
Despite the two penalties and seemingly precedent suggesting that either or both could have been met with the two-handed salute by the on-field referee, the aggressive dummy half was allowed to stay on the field for the full 80 minutes on Saturday evening in the Shire.
That was then met by the more baffling turn of events on Sunday morning when the NRL's match review committee decided both offences were only to be dealt with as Grade 1 charges, leading to a pair of fines for Mahoney.
There is a clear disconnect at times between what the MRC views as a suspendable offence and what referees view as a sin-binnable offence, but that gulf will only grow with the new crackdown, even if both parties bafflingly made what seemed to be the wrong decision in Mahoney's case.
The fact that Mahoney got away with no weeks on the sideline, while Emre Guler (and yes, he has three offences on his record), faces three weeks for a minor crusher tackle, and Canterbury edge forward Sitili Tupouniua will also be suspended for a high shot makes little to no sense.
While the MRC certainly have their own issues, it's the crackdown that just doesn't make sense.
It will, once again, fundamentally change the way in which teams are able to play the game after the season has started.
It's simply not good enough on the NRL's end to be doing it yet again, and while no player actively goes out in the attempt of making high or dangerous tackles, the bottom line is that it's a physical sport where things go wrong.
NRL referees need to have discretion to sin bin the ones that have gone wrong without mitigating circumstances, and deal with other challenges as they see fit.
There will always be consistency issues as there was on Saturday evening in Mahoney's case. That's the nature of sports officiated by human beings.
Players making a mistake is the only reason a referee has to make the decision in the first place.
But to change the rules four weeks into the season?
Simply unforgivable in a multi-million dollar sport attempting to angle itself as the best-run in Australia.
All eyes will be on Thursday evening to see exactly how much of this is huff and puff, and how much of it really is the next crackdown.
Then, all eyes will be on a month down the road to see if the crackdown continues.
Whatever the case, the NRL can not revert away from this crackdown in a month's time, as they have done in the past.
There is no place for that.
