Game's Evolution

A summary of many of the significant changes in the major professional competition in Australia since rugby league's first season in Australia in 1908. The competition was run by the NSW Rugby League from 1908 to 1995 and the ARL from 1995 to 1997, and has been run by the National Rugby League since 1998.

Point Scoring
Year	Scoring Change
1922	Goals from ‘fair catch/mark' and soccer-style ‘field goal' abolished
1971	Field goals were reduced from two (2) points to one (1)
1983	Tries were increased from three (3) points to four (4)
2003	Golden Point' extra-time introduced to decide drawn games (in NRL)
2021	Field goals kicked from beyond the 40m line were increased from one (1) to two (2) points

Squad Indentity
Years		Restrictions
From	To	Restrictions
1908	1959	Only players residing within the boundaries of the district club could play for that club. The Sydney Roosters (then known as Eastern Suburbs), when formed in 1908, had boundaries based on the municipalities of Randwick, Waverley, Woollahra, Vaucluse, Paddington and those parts of the City Of Sydney east of George Street and north of Liverpool and Oxford Streets. Changes to boundaries over its first fifty years, most notably in 1921 and 1937, saw large sections of Roosters territory, within Randwick Council, moved into South Sydney's territory. Those changes saw the southern boundary altered to become Rainbow Street, Randwick before a subsequent adjustment advanced the southern boundary further north to Alison Road, Coogee.
1960	1971	The residential rule that had been in place since 1908 was replaced by a system of transfer fees payable to the club that was losing their player to another club. These transfer fees were deemed by the New South Wales Equity Court to be invalid and were abolished, following a failed High Court appeal by the NSWRL in late 1971. The movement of players between clubs, after their contracts expired, was now free from restrictions and the controversial NSWRFL retain and transfer system would no longer apply to off contract players.
1975	1983	A 13 import rule was enacted for the 1975 season, restricting clubs to a maximum of 13 players, through the entire club, who were not local juniors of that club. Between 1982 and 1983 the definition of an 'import' was changed so that players that had been with a club for three years were no longer 'imports' and players with five consecutive years' service with a club would be allowed freedom of movement between Sydney clubs. However, at the end of the 1983 season, the rule was abolished.
1990		The first season that a salary cap was imposed on clubs. Administrators claimed that the Cap would assist in evening out the talent pool amongst clubs and to ensure clubs couldn't spend funds they didn't have.
1991		A draft is introduced to control the flow of off-contract players between clubs. After just one season it was deemed illegal by the High Court and consequently has not been used since.
1997		The game split into two competitions as a result of the 'Super League War'. Players signed contracts with the governing bodies of the rival competitions and then a contract with a club within that competition. After one season of split competitions the game came together under the one banner in 1998, administered by a new governing body, named the National Rugby League.

Replacement Players
Years		Replacement Rules
To	From	Replacement Rules
1908	1925	A maximum of two players per team to be used as replacements for injured players
1961	1961	No replacements allowed
1962	1969	Teams were allowed to replace a maximum of two injured players prior to the commencement of the second half
1970	1980	Two players allowed to be replaced at any time during a game, provided that the replacements had played at least half of a lower grade game earlier that day
1981	1987	Four players allowed to be replaced at any time during a game, provided that the replacements had played at least half of a lower grade game earlier that day
1987	1991 *	Free interchanges allowed for players sent to the 'head bin', which was set up for players suffering minor head injuries
1988	1990	Two of the four allowed replacements were not required to have played at least half of a lower grade game earlier that day. Teams commence selecting two fresh replacements per game
1991	1992	Introduction of interchange, allowing up to four players to interchange with starting players, for a maximum of six interchanges, provided that at least two of the four allowed replacements had played at least half of a lower grade game earlier that day
1991 *	1995	The free interchange 'head bin' is replaced by a 'blood bin' meaning that teams can only take advantage of the free interchange if a head injury causes the player to bleed
1993	1995	Lifting of requirement that two of the four interchange players had to have played at least half a lower grade game earlier that day. Teams commence selecting four fresh replacements per game
1996	2000	The requirement of a maximum of six interchanges per team is changed to unlimited (for the first four weeks of the 2000 season the number of bench players was increased from four to six)
2001	2007	The unlimited interchange is removed and replaced with a maximum of twelve interchanges
2008	2015	The number of interchanges per team is reduced from twelve to ten
2014		Head injury assessments (HIA) introduced to determine if a player has suffered a possible concussion and is required to be taken from the field and either temporarily or permanently replaced. A free interchange is allowed for a player leaving and returning to the field if a player leaves the field for an HIA and the alleged perpetrator is placed on report, sent to the sin bin or sent off
2016		The number of interchanges per team is reduced from ten to eight
2021 *		An 18th man policy is introduced for instances where more than two players from one team can not return to the field after failing an HIA or when a player is ruled out of a game through an act of foul player where the alleged perpetrator is sent off or sent to the sin bin
2022		Free interchanges as a result of foul play is changed so that they can only be used if the alleged perpetrator is sent off or sent to the sin bin
2023		The number of concussions suffered by a team, which result in players not being able to return to the field, to activate their 18th man, is reduced from more than two to two or more
* Mid-Season change

Tackle Sets
Years	Number of Tackles
1908 - 1966	Unlimited tackle sets
1967 - 1970	Four (4) tackle sets
1971 -	Six (6) tackle sets
2014 -	In instances when the attacking side is responsible for the ball rolling dead in-goal or knocks-on in the in-goal area then the defending side receives a seven (7) tackle set, commencing with a tap on the 20m line

Scrums
Year	Rule Change
1981	Shots at goals are no longer allowable as a result of a scrum infringement penalty
1982	Loose-head and feed given to non-offending team
1983	Handovers introduced when a team is caught in possession after six tackles or when tackled for the sixth time in a set
1989	Handovers extended to occasions when the attacking team knocked-on, kicked out on the full or ran into touch on the sixth tackle play
2014	40/20 successful kicks are now tap-restarts, rather than a scrum restart
2022	Re-start of a play from a kick for touch becomes a tap-restart, rather than a scrum

Ruck Rules
Years	Rule In Place
1908 - 1950	No yard (metre) ruck rule in place
1951	Five yard (4.6 metres) ruck rule in place
1952 - 1955	No yard (metre) ruck rule reinstated
1956 - 1965	Three yard (2.7 metre) ruck rule in place
1966 - 1972	Five yard (4.6 metres) ruck rule back in place
1973 - 1993 *	Five yard (4.6 metres) ruck rule becomes five metre (5.45 yards) ruck rule as Australia goes metric
1993 *	Ten metre (10.9 yards) ruck rule in place
* Mid-Season change

Player Numbering
No.	1908 - 1960	1961 - 1988	Current
1	Prop Forward	Full Back	Full Back
2	Hooker	Wing Three Quarter	Right Winger
3	Prop Forward	Centre Three Quarter	Right Centre
4	Second Row Forward	Centre Three Quarter	Left Centre
5	Second Row Forward	Wing Three Quarter	Left Winger
6	Lock Forward	Five Eighth	Five Eighth
7	Half Back	Half Back	Half Back
8	Five Eighth	Lock Forward	Prop Forward
9	Wing Three Quarter	Second Row Forward	Hooker
10	Centre Three Quarter	Second Row Forward	Prop Forward
11	Centre Three Quarter	Prop Forward	Second Row Forward
12	Wing Three Quarter	Hooker	Second Row Forward
13	Full Back	Prop Forward	Lock Forward

Changes In Officiating
Year	Changes In Place
1990 - 1997	In-goal touch judges used in all finals matches
1998 -	Video referees assigned to all NRL matches, situated in a grandstand at the match venue
2009 - 2020 *	Two on-field referees officiating at each NRL match
2016 -	Video referees no longer situated at the match venue, but stationed instead at a central bunker
2020 -	Captain's Challenge allowed, with each teams allowed one unsuccessful challenge per match
* Mid-Season change

Significant Changes To Finals
(Elite Men's Professional Competition)
Year	Major Finals Milestone
1937	Final season without a finals series
1943	Last season with a play-off for teams tied on competition points at the top of the table, to give a team a right to 'challenge' the (Preliminary) Final winner in a Grand Final
1953	Last season without a Grand Final
1960	Final season where play-offs were used to determine placings for teams already qualified for finals
1978	Last season with a replay following a drawn finals match
1991	Final season where play-offs were used to determine the final place(s) in the final series
2002	Last season without golden point being used to separate teams tied at full time in finals matches
2015	Final season without extra time being used in finals matches, prior to teams going to golden point to decide the winner

Weekly Match Program
Years	Program Name
1920 - 1972	Rugby League News
1973 - 2019	Big League Magazine

Other Significant Changes
Year	Rule Change
1981	Introduction of the sin bin
1997	Striking at the play-the-ball, which had been in place since 1926, was no longer allowed
1997	40/20 tactical kicking advantage introduced allowing successful side to retain possession
2010 *	Contact with a corner post by a player is no longer considered touch-in-goal
2020	20/40 tactical kicking advantage introduced allowing successful side to retain possession
2020 *	A set-restart, rather than a penalty, will be awarded to the attacking team if the defensive team commits a ruck infringement or has a player off players inside the 10 metre defensive line. From the 2022 season, if the infringement occurs inside the 40 metre zone of the team in possession it will revert to being a penalty
* Mid-Season change

NRLW Specific Rules
Year	Differentiation from Men
2018	Squads numbers: restricted to 24
2018	Duration of matches: 70 minutes of regular time (two 35-minute halves)
2018	Interchanges: a total of 10 in regular time (with two interchanges available in the case of golden point)
2018	40/30 and 20/50 kick advantage: providing for tactical kicking and unpredictability during matches

Sydney Roosters respect and honour the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands we meet, gather and play on.