The NRL is set to trial new technology in hope of eliminating misjudged forward passes this pre-season in what will be music to the ears of league fans across the nation.
Despite the bunker's recent introduction, forward passes have continued to go overlooked, prompting fans to call for drastic changes to how the NRL can neutralise the issue.
The league secretly implemented new technology late into the 2021 season as an initial trial, with two separate firms set to aid the league's hopes of combatting missed forward pass calls ahead of the NRL's opening round next month.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, UK firm Sportable have implemented microchips into balls to read whether passes are thrown forward, while another unnamed group have also been invited to experiment with their own ball-tracking technology.
Pre-season matches and the NRLW season will see the technology come into play but won't effect matches, with the ARL still required to decide whether the ball-tracking additions will be used throughout the NRL's home and away season.
The NRL are set to assess the capabilities of both avenues in the hope either are advantageous to the league.
“We have been quietly working on different types of technology with a couple of companies for the past 12 months or so,” NRL’s head of football Graham Annesley said, via The Sydney Morning Herald.
“It’s not an easy solution due to the physics of the forward pass rule and the location of cameras at venues.
“We’ve been exploring two very different possible solutions and we trialled one of them behind the scenes in a number of games late last year.
“The alternate proposal will also be blind tested in several pre-season matches over the next month. This will allow us to properly assess the capability and accuracy of both technologies against each other.
“After the trials we will discuss the results with the Commission and seek further direction on next steps.
“While I’m not sure of the outcome at this stage, the potential to finally crack one of the great frustrations of our game is very exciting.”
Should the NRL see startling results from ball-tracking, the ARL could implement the assistance for Round 1, however 2023 is seen as a more likely timeline should any questions arise in the coming weeks.