IT will be business as usual for junior rugby league players throughout Group 3 for the upcoming 2020 season.
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The National Rugby League have proposed radical changes which are set to be trialled in Queensland at grassroots footy, but Group 3 JRL president Warren Blissett said they would not be involved for at least 12 months.
One of the changes to be trialled involves banning all contact in the under-six and under-seven age groups, meaning these competitions would be played as league tag as opposed to the traditional tackle competitions.
Blissett said they would be advised what the policy is for the competition in 12 months' time.
"We'll wait and see what the figures indicate," he said.
"But for now everyone will sit back and see what the statistics say around participation and returned participation levels.
"For 2020 at least ... it will be business as usual."
We are in modern times now and the new parents coming through have a different visibility on the game than what we all did 20, 30 or 40 years ago.
- Group 3 junior rugby league president Warren Blissett
It is believed the changes in under-six and under-seven level will make the sport safer at that age and Blissett acknowledged they would need to reassess their stance over time.
"We are in modern times now and the new parents coming through have a different visibility on the game than what we all did 20, 30 or 40 years ago," he said.
"If you don't look to change with a changing modern society thought process then you will fail.
"You can't run with the same business plan over 50 years and not expect it to be detrimental to your bottom line, you've got to adapt."
Blissett admitted purists of the game would be against the changes, but modern thinking supporters would look at it as being something that needed to be explored.
Port City Breakers junior rugby league president Josh Hyde is all for making the game safer, but believes the NSWRL should undertake future tackle training programs rather than banning tackling altogether.
"A lot of injuries come down to poor tackle technique," he said.
A lot of injuries come down to poor tackle technique.
- Port City Breakers junior rugby league president Josh Hyde
"A different approach is to make sure the kids are coached properly and have a school curriculum that coaches kids six to nine how to tackle."
Hyde's son Korbyn played his first season of rugby league last season.
He backed Group 3's decision not to implement the no-tackling rule at under-six level for now as it had the potential to confuse the players in those age brackets who could tackle last season.
"My youngest played tackle all last year so how was he going to go and change to take tags off this year instead," he said.
"At least when they're five and six they're all at the same stage of development."
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