The NRL is reportedly set to make changes to the kick-off rule for the 2025 season.
It comes after pressure was put on the competition last season as concussions on return runs from kick-offs mounted.
A series of ugly incidents marred the campaign, with coaches providing conflicting views on what needed to change - but the consensus was generally clear.
Players couldn't continue to run into situations where concussions were a fact of life as props returned off the back fence with enormous runs into defensive lines that themselves had, at times 40 metres or more, to settle into position.
Wide World of Sports' The Mole is reporting that the rule change will see any team who has a kick-off that goes beyond the opposition's 20-metre line on the full concede a seven-tackle set.
Currently, any kick-off that goes over the dead ball line on the full concedes a penalty in the middle of halfway, but that requires a 60-metre kick.
A 30-metre kick is a far shorter proposition, and the NRL is understood to be hopeful that it will reduce the speed of collision in the first tackle after a kick-off.
The NRL had already made changes to rules policing short kick-offs and dropouts last year in an attempt to encourage teams to use the tactic more often, removing penalties for failed attempts and instead only allowing the non-offending team to receive a standard restart.
It's unclear if the rule has already been floated with clubs. However, competition authorities had confirmed during the middle of the 2024 season that kick-offs would be under the microscope in the end-of-season annual review that the NRL and Australian Rugby League Commission undertake into the game.
The rule is yet to be ratified by the NRL. However, competition authorities generally announce all rule changes this side of Christmas.
