Canberra Raiders chief executive Don Furner has publicly questioned the National Rugby League's decision to alter one of the game's most fundamental laws, labelling the upcoming kick-off rule change as unnecessary.
Furner's Blunt Assessment of Historic Shift
The Raiders boss, who will represent the club in a Zoom meeting of NRL chief executives with league boss Andrew Abdo on Wednesday, expressed his confusion over the move. The change will see the team that scores restart play with the kick-off, a reversal of the traditional rule where the conceding team kicks off.
"Me, personally, I don't think it needed to be changed," Furner told The Canberra Times. "I just don't understand why we needed to change the kick-off rule after 100 years."
Furner has firsthand experience with the rule from its brief use during the Super League season in 1997. He recalls it making little significant impact on matches. "It was a long time ago now, but I don't know that it was an earth-shattering change to the former rules," he stated, adding he was "ambivalent" about its effect during that period.
Package of Changes for 2026 Season
The kick-off alteration is part of a broader suite of rule modifications set to debut in the upcoming NRL season, largely aimed at increasing game flow and reducing lopsided scorelines. Furner indicated he was supportive of the other adjustments.
Match-day squads will increase from 17 to 19 players, with the caveat that only four of the six bench players can be activated during a game. The controversial 'six-again' rule will now be awarded outside the attacking 20-metre line, rather than the 40-metre line. Additionally, a knock-on in the attacking in-goal area will no longer gift the defending team a seven-tackle set.
Furner reserved particular praise for the crackdown on blue-shirt trainers, whose access to the field has been "massively reduced." They will now only be permitted to enter after a try is scored.
"The blue-shirt trainer, they've been rorting the system for a long, long time," Furner said. "That's long overdue that change. They were on the field for whole sets of six tackles, directing the attack. It was let go for way too long so I'm glad that one changed."
Will Teams Opt Out of the New Kick-Off?
An intriguing sub-clause of the new kick-off rule allows the team that has been scored against to choose to kick off themselves if they prefer, rather than automatically handing the restart to the scoring side. However, Furner is sceptical any team will use this option.
"It's really going to be scorer kicks," he predicted. "I can't see any team choosing to give them the ball back."
The Raiders' coaching staff, including head coach Ricky Stuart, were briefed on the incoming changes at NRL headquarters before Christmas, alongside other high-profile mentors like Craig Bellamy and Ivan Cleary.
Canberra fans will get their first look at the team under the new rules during a pre-season trial against the Melbourne Storm at Seiffert Oval on February 13.
