Nothing in sport is certain anymore. All the assumed truths of decades past – that games will be played, seasons completed and champions crowned – now carry question marks.
The closest rugby league has to a sure thing in 2021 is that its biggest star will not be a player or coach but a big-dreaming, hyper-aggressive administrator who wears ill-fitting suits and collects the bodies of those who get in his way.
The rise and rise of Peter V’landys shows no signs of turning. His ascension started when he brought the NRL back quicker than any other major sports league in the world. Given his popularity among both the faithful and those in clubland, and his bulldozing force of personality, he will continue to be the sun around which the game in Australia revolves.
He has already grabbed the biggest off-season headlines with some notable rule changes seemingly handed down from on high. The rules were not just tinkering around the edges. Teams can now collect two points for a field goal from outside of 40m. Six-again can now be called for 10m infringements. Changes to scrum and play-the-ball infringements. The Bunker will review every try. The success – or not – of these rule changes remains to be seen and will be a major storyline, particularly early in the season. But the general consensus seems to be they will make the game even faster than V’landys’ first foray into major rule changes.
Defy Impossible ✨#NRL pic.twitter.com/75y6qHX7PX
— NRL (@NRL) March 8, 2021
One team these latest alterations seem certain to favour are South Sydney. The Rabbitohs are blessed with not only speed and skill, but arguably more football instinct and sensibility than any other team. Damien Cook is electric out of dummy half. Cody Walker is a constant threat to break the line as a triple-threat player. Latrell Mitchell is stripping much fitter and, with a season at fullback under his belt, is primed for a monster campaign.
Souths will not be short of motivation, either, with legendary coach Wayne Bennett moving on after this season. Bennett has won seven premierships with two clubs in a career nearing 900 premiership matches. He may never have a better chance to become the first man in history to coach three sides to a title.
There is no shortage of contenders looking to dash a dream farewell for Bennett, but the frontrunners are defending premiers Melbourne and arch-rivals the Sydney Roosters.
The Storm have, bar an old school Lucha Libre-esque unmasking, set about on their post-Cameron Smith journey. No club is better prepared to move on from one of the true greats of the game. This won’t be the Knights after Andrew Johns or the Cowboys after Johnathan Thurston. Melbourne managed the departures of Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk wonderfully well. They are now replacing their all-time hooker with Queensland rake Harry Grant and New Zealand hooker Brandon Smith. Fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen is a prime contender for the Dally M Medal, such has been his rise. Most importantly, the incomparable Craig Bellamy remains at the helm.
The Roosters have, in a rarity for the Bondi Boys, slipped somewhat under the radar. It is personnel though, both veteran and rookie, that have attracted the most attention. Skipper Boyd Cordner has been sidelined for at least the first half of the season as his career hangs in the balance following a series of concussions that have predicated serious talk of retirement. At the other end of the spectrum is the emergence of teen rugby union sensation Joseph Suualii and the NRL’s inclination to break its own rule and grant him an exemption to play before the age of 18. It will be fascinating to see how both the Roosters and the NRL prioritise player safety.
Penrith will also fancy their chances this year after winning the minor premiership with just a single defeat prior to the grand final. Everything broke Penrith’s way in 2020 though and with the club taking a fair hit to its depth, as well as losing key assistant Trent Barrett, the hill to climb this year will be significantly more difficult.
Barrett, of course, is one of five new head coaches heading into the season after inking a deal to coach Canterbury. Nothing brings hope to a club more than a new coach and the freshly mowed turf they bring. The Cowboys, Broncos, Dragons and Warriors – along with the Bulldogs – have all brought in a new mentor to rebuild teams which missed the eight in 2020.
No side is in need of a boost more than fallen giants Brisbane. Kevin Walters takes over a club on its knees which had little choice but to move on from Anthony Seibold. But it is hard to see Walters getting much out of a Broncos roster that is not only worse on paper but will be missing key figures early in the season, with Kotoni Staggs out with injury and Payne Haas suspended for his vicious verbal assault on a police officer on a drunken night out.
Win or lose, though, the undercurrent that will dictate the entire season is how Australia and the world continues to handle Covid-19. A typically cumbersome game weighed down by club politics, rugby league demonstrated great agility in 2020 to get back up and running.
In 2021, they are going to need to show the same nimbleness – and heart. The Warriors are once again forced to play out of Gosford. The ability for teams to play at home, or for people to attend, will once again be at the whim of forces beyond NRL HQ.
It is March, though, and we are all systems go. Rugby league is back and so is the never-ending carnival it brings with it.
