Daly Cherry-Evans and James Tedesco expect the NRL will experience a reduction in blowout scorelines after a tweak to the competition's rules.
The NRL launched its 2022 season at a low-key event in Sydney on Thursday - a week out from when reigning premiers Penrith take on Manly.
And the game's administrators are hopeful of avoiding another year of one-sided games.
The reason for the increased blowouts in 2021 was due to the introduction of a revamped six-again rule.
Teams would be given a six-again rather than a penalty when the opposition were offside.
The toll of defending led to some teams conceding tries which may have been considered soft under previous iterations of the rules.
Smarter teams, meanwhile, would opt to give penalties away early in the tackle count to allow their defensive line time to reset.
In response, the NRL has tweaked the rule so that when a team is infringed against in their own half they receive a penalty to allow them to kick themselves out of trouble.
Manly captain Cherry-Evans suggested the gap would close in 2022.
"The game has obviously changed rule-wise over the last two years and teams haven't had too long to change their philosophies and structures," he told AAP.
"Some teams have done that and maybe in the first two years there was an excuse for there to be an indifference but I think you'll find this year and next year it will level back out.
"Coaches have had enough time to manoeuvre their roster and adapt to the rule changes and I think you'll see a fairer game this year and next year.
"I could be very wrong but I don't think it can't stay like this forever. Teams will catch up with each other."
Sydney Roosters captain James Tedesco felt the game had got too quick last year with little time for stoppage under the six-again adaptation.
The fullback claimed the previous rules had made the game a less-entertaining spectacle.
"There was a gap from the top eight to the bottom eight teams," Tedesco said.
"Now they've changed the rules again and it might slow things down a bit.
"Last year it was a faster game and there were more blowouts and I'm not sure if that's good for the game.
"People would rather watch a close game with guys defending their line and they probably made that change without exploring the effects."
