Sportal.com have their preview of the ARC match between supposed front runners the Canberra Vikings and Perth Spirit. After Perth’s win last week and the Vikings going down to Melbourne it will be interesting to see who figures out the new rules and the referees interpretation of them first.
The new rules mean a bigger emphasis by the defensive team to kill the ball at the breakdown meaning more effort from both teams in the ruck. And at the same time there are fewer scrums meaning more playing time. So will fitness will probably play a bigger part in the match than it would have.