Wigan Warriors ace Brad O'Neill welcomes Super League's quick ruck interpretations with benefits explained
Wigan Warriors hooker Brad O'Neill believes Super League’s new quick ruck interpretations are already transforming the competition – and insists the changes are making the game better for players and supporters alike.
Just three rounds into the new campaign, the pace of matches has noticeably increased. Officials are clamping down on defenders who deliberately slow the play-the-ball, penalising those who linger in the ruck or join tackles late in an effort to allow their defensive line to reset. The result has been quicker rucks, more fatigue and, in turn, more space for attacking players to exploit.
For O’Neill, one of the competition’s standout hookers, it is a shift that plays directly into the hands of creative spines, but also demands higher standards across the board.
“Personally, I really like the ruck speed and the way it’s being refereed at the moment,” the England international said. “I feel like it suits both sides. It puts pressure on the attack to execute, but it also puts pressure on the defence to be at its best every single play.
“I don’t feel like it just affects me — it affects all of our players. The spine probably steps up because it creates more opportunity for myself, but also for the likes of Jai (Field), Bevan (French), Harry (Smith), and the middles. I feel like it presents more opportunities for them, and they see more of what they can play. It creates opportunities for everybody.
"I feel like it can only benefit us all as players. For me as a nine, it is recognising times in the past couple of years where you feel like you should have had a quick ruck, and you get people lying in and then the line gets set, and you probably don’t get the reward, whereas now, I feel like refs are going to reward that and hopefully you can execute on the back of that and it becomes more entertaining for the fans as well.”
O’Neill, who is just three appearances away from joining Wigan’s 100 club despite still only being 23 years of age, believes the new ruck interpretations will bring the best out of players from across the competition, making for a more entertaining product.
"You can’t get people joining a tackle late now and slowing the ruck down,” he explained.
"I feel like it helps our outside-backs if they get a strong carry in the early plays, and they find their front, and it doesn’t slow time down. I feel like the refs are doing a great job at recognising that and recognising that it is a win, and we do get the ruck speed on the back of that.
“In defence, I feel like it is putting more pressure on us to be cleaner in the ruck, win more collisions and do our job properly, and not just be leeching on tackles and trying to slow the ruck down and make it messy. I feel like it holds us responsible, and ultimately, it’s just going to give us a more entertaining game.”
The Warriors have made an impressive start to the season, with Matt Peet’s side the only unbeaten team remaining in the competition after victories over Castleford Tigers (26-16), Hull FC (34-6) and Leigh Leopards (54-0).
Wigan have seamlessly adapted well to the new ruck interpretations, and the goal for the Warriors is to allow the likes of Jai Field, Bevan French, Harry Smith, O’Neill and Tom Forber to do their thing.
"Hopefully,” O’Neill added. “We’ve been together quite a long time, three or four years we’ve been working together, so we’ve been building on those combinations and with the ruck quickening up, hopefully we can start executing.
"We can go on about the rucks quickening up, but it doesn’t quicken up unless we carry well and carry strong, which comes from our outside-backs and our middles, so the credit will ultimately go to them for creating those quick rucks because it all starts with them.”
If the early signs are anything to go by, Super League’s faster tempo is here to stay, and Wigan look well-equipped to thrive in it.