The NRL has confirmed one rule change for the 2022 season, while matchday policies have been tightened up in the wake of several controversies last season.
In an effort to stop teams repeatedly infringing, in the hope of being punished with a set restart, penalties will now be awarded for ruck or 10m infringements when the team in possession is inside their 40m zone.
The NRL's hastily introduced "six again" rule saw many instances of defending teams exploiting the rule for tactical advantage, giving them time to reset their line.
Now, teams bringing the ball out from their own end will get the more significant advantage of a penalty, hopefully deterring similar tactics.
Meanwhile, the rules around interchanges and injury stoppages have been tweaked following plenty of conjecture in 2021.
The NRL confirmed on Wednesday that teams will only be granted a free interchange in situations where the offending player has been sin-binned or sent off.
Across the competition, teams were legally using more than their 12 interchanges by replacing players who had been injured or required a head injury assessment (HIA) due to an act of foul play which was placed on report.
That threshold has now been raised, meaning the offending player must be binned or sent off at the time.
Another commonsense change to matchday policy in 2022 will see trainers unable to stop play for anything other than a head injury.
The referee, touch judge or Bunker retain the right to stop play for injuries, with the NRL hoping to avoid a repeat of the drama that plagued the dying stages of Penrith's semi-final win over Parramatta.
Panthers trainer Pete Green was suspended and the club fined after he asked for the game to be stopped prior to assessing the injured Mitch Kenny, halting the Eels' momentum in the process.
The final change to NRL policies for 2022 sees the Tuesday team announcements increased from 21 to 22 players following the addition of 18th player rule in 2021.
Introduced last season, the 18th man could be called upon in the event of three failed HIAs or a match-ending injury which saw the offending player sin-binned or sent off.
