Round 10 of the NRL season has revealed how players have adapted to new rule changes, and how much it has impacted them mentally and physically, a Rugby League Players’ Association survey has shown.
The 57 players, mostly delegates from each NRL club, has shared their feelings towards topics including match speed and intensity, overall fatigue, match dynamics such as referee decisions, rule changes, post-match recovery, training, and peak performance.
At the start of the 2026 season, three new rule changes were greenlit by the Australian Rugby League Commission: an expansion of match-day squads from 17 players to 19, no more seven-tackle changeover if a ball is dropped by an attacking team in-goal, and set restarts applying outside of the 20m zone where penalties were primarily given instead.
In a media release, Rugby League Players’ Association CEO, and former NRL player, Clint Newton said the changes are a hot topic within the community.
“The rule changes introduced by the NRL for the 2026 season have been a prominent topic of discussion for players, coaches, administrators, and fans alike,” Mr Newton said.
“As the RLPA continues to work with the NRL to better understand their decisions as well as the data that impacts player injuries, welfare and the length of their careers, we believe this player survey will play an important role in understanding what is happening on the field and at training.
“The results of this player survey will be a key asset for the Players’ Association as we advocate for our members now and in the coming years.”
In the survey, every respondent answered that the overall speed of the game had not decreased from last year, with 96.5 per cent stating they believed the game was actually faster. However, for match intensity, only eight per cent of respondents said the game had become less intense than last year.
Additionally, 77.5 per cent of respondents said the amount of continuous play, or time without a stoppage, had increased in some capacity, while 84 per cent said referee interpretations have had more impact on the game than 2025, with only two per cent of players saying the opposite.
The Captain’s Challenge was introduced at the start of the 2020 season, giving players an opportunity to send a referee decision to a third umpire, also known as the Bunker, if they believe the referee’s decision is wrong.
During the first third of the season in 2025, Round 1-9, out of 126 total challenges with a conclusive outcome, 55 were successful, equating to an average of 0.83 successful challenges per game, or a success rate of 43.65 per cent.
Comparatively, during the first third of the season in 2026, out of 114 total challenges with a conclusive outcome, 56 were successful, equating to an average of 0.93 successful challenges per game, or a success rate of 49.12 per cent, which is an almost three per cent difference in success between seasons.
As for set restarts, Rounds 1-9 in 2025 had a total of 441 set restarts for ruck infringement or being offside, averaging 6.13 per game, while 2026 had a total of 652 set restarts, averaging 9.06 per game, a difference of just under an average of three set restarts per game, explaining why players may find the game faster, and why there is less stoppage in play.
Content creator and passionate St. George Illawarra Dragons supporter, Julian Ali said that while the new rules have some merit, it is ultimately the inconsistent ruling of them that is hurting the game for the players.
“Sometimes it would help a team win a game, it would also help them lose a game, because it’s very inconsistent,” Mr Ali said.
“Some players think it’s a ruck infringement, that’s what they call it, and some teams would do the exact same thing and not get the call.”
Mr Ali also said the overall abundance of set restarts are making the game unengaging for both casual fans and diehard fans alike.
“The diehards are definitely more into it and they see the difference, but the regular ones, they’d also be complaining because all you are hearing is the six again bell,” Mr Ali said.
“Sometimes it’s dragged.”
Additionally, the survey has revealed that only 3.5 per cent of players feel safer in terms of injury risk during the matches, with 35 per cent answering they feel the same, and 61.5 per cent answering they feel more at risk to some degree.
According to the NRL Physiotherapy Instagram page, throughout the first third of the 2025 season, there were a total of 95 injuries for players in first-grade, while in 2026, that number was 102.
In both instances, concussions were the most common injuries with 22 instances in 2025, and 31 in 2026.
Hamstring injuries were the second-most common injury at 13 and 11 instances respectively, and medial collateral ligament (MCL) injuries, and shoulder injuries being within the top five most common injuries across both years.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs supporter Wayne Brown said the high risk for injury may be as a result of a much faster game
“It seems like there’s a lot of fatigue injuries now because the game’s a lot faster and there’s not much time for the guys to recover in-between sets,” Mr Brown said.
“Clearly there’s a few more injuries because of fatigue but I don’t think the NRL actually meant for that to happen.
“It’s just a by-product of what the rule changes have made.”
Mr Brown said that despite the injury cloud, there was still a way to ensure players stay safe and recover injury-free.
“There’s enough intelligent people in the game to be able to train the players to be able to cope, they’ve just got to catch up,” he said.
Both seasons also had two anterior cruciate ligament injuries (ACL), both of which resulted in the players being sidelined for the rest of the season. The majority of other injuries took anywhere from one week to an indefinite amount of time out of the game.
Thirty-nine percent of the players surveyed also answered that their enjoyment of the game had decreased since last year, and every player surveyed answered that their post-match recovery had not improved, with 49.5 per cent of those respondents stating it was worse.
