St George Illawarra Dragons Head Coach Paul McGregor is amongst many who have endorsed the move for the NRL Match Review Committee to lay charges against players within 24 hours of each match from Round 10 onwards.
In addition, each match will be reviewed by at least two Match Review Committee members, instead of one, to provide a second view on each incident.
All coaches supported the changes which have the potential to lead to quicker and more consistent Match Review Committee determinations.
NRL CEO Todd Greenberg also told the meeting that Ivan Cleary has joined the NRL as a consultant to assist with match review, judiciary and refereeing issues.
“Ivan is one of the most experienced coaches in the game and he has a great feel for what the clubs want from our match and judiciary officials,” said Greenberg.
“So our coaches can now be assured that we are getting input from someone who has a real feel for the game from the coaching perspective.”
The meeting debated the merits of using technology to pick up on-field incidents of foul play.
There was support among the coaches for referees to make more decisions rather than relying on video evidence in real time.
Their views will now go to the next meeting of the Competition Committee for consideration.
A recommendation will also be put to the Competition Committee to consider the introduction of extra time in Finals Series matches in 2016.
Under the proposal, five minutes extra time each way would be played in the event of a draw in all Finals matches before the game goes to golden point.
The meeting also debated the current obstruction rules before endorsing the current system which allows some level of discretion for match officials to determine the significance of any contact and whether the defence is impeded.
The meeting was given a “State of the Game” update which showed that crowds, television audiences and close games are all on the rise.
Attendances at games are up 4 per cent, television audiences up 18 per cent and there have been more one-point games after 9 rounds than at any time since 1998.
