I think what ever team ends up using the 6 man bench the best could have a significant leg up this year.
For me, its greatly going to reduce players like
TMM role within the team. And I'm all for it.
TMM is currently there as a super sub, a 'just in case'. Which is great when you have an injury, but a bit of a wasted man on the bench if there's no injury and you're trying to squeeze him in.
I think it's going to open up a whole element within a game plan. Against bigger teams like the Raiders, do you have 4 forwards on the bench,
TMM and
Healey, and if we're getting beat up in the middle and no injuries after 50min, go all out and bring the extra forward on? Or if we've been getting a big roll on up the middle, do you try bringing
Healey and
TMM on against a tiring pack?
I think this rule change suits us as it means we can have our super sub specifically left on the bench unless there's an injury. There were a few games last year where I feel we were unlucky - having
TMM on the bench when
Healey would have been great during a specific game, and I think we picked
Healey a few times and ended up getting an injury in the backs in the first 15 min. Now we have the opportunity to use both at the opportune moment instead of blindly hoping you've picked the right guy