'Getting close' to rule rethink after points blitz

Rugby league legend Peter Sterling says the six again rule has taken the NRL to a dangerous tipping point, with attack dominating defence in a way that's rarely been seen before.

The first weekend of finals featured a whopping 235 points across four games, an average of almost 60 points per game.

Parramatta and Cronulla were the lowest scoring teams yet both notched 20 points, which is more than the winning team managed in both of last year's preliminary finals as well as the grand final.

In the space of a year finals footy has transformed from tense, low scoring slugfests to high scoring shootouts.

Sterling said he preferred the game when it favoured the attacking team but added that it was "getting close" to losing the balance the contest needed.

"I have reservations," Sterling told Wide World of Sports' Sterlo's Wrap.

"Rugby league has always been about attack and defence, generally it's sort of 50/50.

"We like to slant more to the attacking side, so 60/40 – we want to see points and tries scored.

"We've just got to be careful it doesn't go too far that it's slanted towards attack.

"We're getting close to that point."

But as more tries are being put on the scoreboard, Sterling said teams on the defensive end are now being forced to give away six again calls on play one.

He said teams are "deliberately" conceding ruck infringements early in the tackle count to slow down attack and put their opponents out of rhythm.

"The six again call concerns me," Sterling said.

"It was always going to happen – the amount of teams who deliberately give away a six again on the first tackle.

"Because what it does, it slows the opposition's full set down but it's kind of hard to be penalised for repeated infringements because those first tackles are so far away to the next penalty and the next penalty.

"But it has a domino effect. Slow down play one - all plays will be much slower than what the attacking team would like.

"When you bring a rule in, you've got to understand the ripple effects because they're always are some.

"I think it's added to our game, we're seeing more points scored.

"We just need to be careful it doesn't get out of hand."

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