Canberra Raiders captain Jarrod Croker is anticipating one of the fastest matches of the year when the NRL introduces shot clock rules for their match against the Parramatta Eels on Sunday.
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Coaches Ricky Stuart and Brad Arthur agreed to road test the new rules in round 26 ahead of their introduction the the NRL season from round one next year.
Under the new rules, line dropouts must start within 30 seconds while scrums needs to be formed by 35 seconds otherwise the infringing team will be penalised.
While time restrictions have featured in some under-20s games in the past two weeks, the match at Parramatta Stadium will be the first for an NRL game.
Raiders players were told on Thursday morning of the decision to use the new rules, and Croker said the squad would need to discuss any necessary game plans tweaks.
"I think it will speed the game up - it has to," Croker said.
"If you don't speed it up you will get penalised by the sounds of things. We'll go and talk to the boys about it and run through it all."
Croker said the Raiders forward pack would need to be on their toes on Sunday to avoid unnecessary penalties, but backed his big men to adapt.
"We"ll have to tell the big boys, they're the ones who struggle to get to the scrum in time so they are the ones we'll have to be into - I'll have to be on their toes because some of the penalties are pretty harsh.
"It can play into our game plan - we think we've got a pretty fit forward pack so it will help a little bit, but in saying that there are times during the game where teams do kick the ball out to get a breather. That won't be happening this week so it should be a fast game."
While a shot clock will be introduced into all NRL matches next year it is yet to determined what the time limits will be.
The shot clock will wind down once a referee signals a scrum feed. If both teams do not pack in time, a penalty will be awarded to the attacking team, while if one side is not ready to resume play, a penalty will be blown to the other side.
If in the opinion of the referee a team deliberately does not attempt to pack a scrum a penalty will be awarded to the opposing team 10 metres out from the offending team's try line.
Similarly, if the shot clock counts down to zero before a line dropout has been taken, a penalty will be awarded to the opposing team 10 metres out from the offending team's try line.
NRL — ROUND 26
Sunday: Parramatta Eels v Canberra Raiders at Parramatta Stadium, 2pm. TV: Live on Fox Sports 2.
