It’s the controversial NRL rule that had Trent Robinson and Ricky Stuart exchanging heated words when they last coached against each other.
And ahead of Sunday’s anticipated grand final between the Sydney Roosters and Canberra, Robinson refused to back down from his stance.
His Roosters team had edged the Raiders by four in round 21, but only after overcoming two contentious one-on-one strips late in the match.
Robinson later hit out at the rule introduced last year, questioning whether it had added to the spectacle and value to the game.
Stuart later described Robinson’s comments as “ridiculous”, however Robinson stood by his position on a tactic the Raiders have perfected this season.
“No, I haven’t changed my opinion on it,” said Robinson, who was sitting right next to Stuart at the annual grand final press conference on Thursday.
“I was clear on what I thought was needed in the game.
“But that’s my opinion. Even though it caused a bit of controversy and a bit of thought, that’s the beauty of voicing that. It doesn’t mean I’m right.
“But it does mean that you can provoke some conversation about it.”
The Raiders’ 28 totals strips this year is nine more than the next best in Melbourne, with hooker Josh Hodgson’s 14 nine more than his nearest rival.
The Roosters have also been stripped the second most of any team this year, which might be why the ploy has been part of their preparation this week.
“It’s a part of the game now, so you have to train for it,” Robinson said.
“If there’s three-four in a game over 150 tackles, it’s a pretty small percentage, so if you’re worried about for a long time, it’s not the right idea.
“But you’ve got to train for it, like you do all the small parts of the game.”
Hodgson was unapologetic about his ability to steal possession in crucial moments, as he did twice in last week’s preliminary final win over South Sydney.
But he also conceded there was an element of risk in attempting the play.
“The rule is there for a reason. If you try and exploit them, I think it can certainly help you as a team in terms of swinging momentum,” he said.
“But it can also go the other way.
“We’ve had numerous times this year where we’ve tried to pull it off and you give a team another set of being on our own goal line for the next five-10 minutes.
“I could probably say we’ve messed up more than what we’ve had this year because of that. It can be a bit of a risky play,”