Where is the innovation?

St Helens Head Coach Paul Wellens has a dilemma. His star full back Jack Welsby has returned to fitness. But his replacement Tristan Sailor is in tremendous form. The solution? Paul Wellens has mooted playing two full backs.

Wellens may have taken inspiration from his predecessor. In his final game as St Helens coach, Kristian Woolf employed a tactic he had never used before. The pendulum. In the 2022 Grand Final against Leeds, Jon Bennison defended at full back and Will Hopoate defended on the wing. In attack, they switched.

It worked like a dream as Hopoate and Bennison combined for a try and Hopoate made a try saving tackle on the wing. An almighty risk for a Grand Final but it paid off.

In Rugby League, teams largely play the same. Ok, there is some variation but you rarely see anything really off the cuff. Here are a few ideas of tactical innovations teams could try.

(In case it needs to be said, this article is just for fun and not meant to be taken too seriously!)

1. Kick Off Roulette

Apart from the occasional short kick off, every kick off is largely the same. High, slightly wide of the posts and to the half back, who passes to the prop forward to barge forward. There is so much more we could do.

Try a high kick off landing in the centre of the field on the 30 metre mark. Or a chip kick aimed there. Teams rarely have anyone in that 'dead' area so take advantage!

Instead of going high, drill a kick low and maybe towards the sideline to try and get the ball back. Or have two kickers lined up, one to the left and one to the right and mix up who takes the kick off.

2. Kick Tennis

We are sticking with kick offs here! Let's assume there is a conventional kick off, as described above. Long and going to a half back. The defending players are running 40 or 50 metres to tackle and there is no full back.

As an attacker, you could run it up. Or you could try a kick. If you put a chip over the defence and execute it well, the attacking player is very likely to get there first as by the time the defender turns, the attackers have a few yards on them.

With no full back at home, there is an open field. It is one almighty risk, but if you are a couple of scores down and need back to back scores...

3. One Marker

If a side is getting overrun or down by a man, don't use two markers. Stand a little deeper and just have the one marker. This can help reduce gaps and solidify the defensive line.

4. Prop on the wing

Ok, hear me out! Imagine Leeds are attacking on their opponents' line. They would usually stand Sam Lisone in the middle. Why not move him to the wing and have him run at smaller defenders? In turn, you can put a faster player with more evasion running at a forward in the middle.

And how would defenders react? Would they move their prop to the wing too?

5. The Love Train

Scrums are a perfect opportunity to put on a set move. Attacking teams have six players in the scrum, one player feeding the scrum and six outside of the scrum.

If a team has a scrum set in the middle of the field, the players outside of the scrum should line up in a vertical line behind the scrum and as the ball comes out all break in one direction causing an overlap. 

This poses questions for a defence. How on earth would you line up against that?!

6. The Overload

Another scrum option here. Set it in the middle and have all six attackers who are outside of the scrum all on one side. Make the defenders choose. Do they go man for man or still leave a defender or two to guard the now *very* open side?

Ok, we know that this will never happen but I'd love to see a team try one of these. What other tactical innovations would you like to see develop in Rugby League?