Matthew Ryan carved out a distinguished career over nines seasons with Canterbury and North Queensland - and is glad he played then and not now.
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Ryan says the NRL of today is "nonsensical" to a degree. A versatile back who retired in 1999, Ryan will coach the Moree Boars next season after last coaching in 2004.
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He said the long break would not be a hindrance to him achieving success at the Boars, as the game had not changed that much in the bush. Lamentably, he said, the same could not be said about the NRL.
"I don't like some of the things the NRL do," he said. "One coach does something and they all follow suit, and I think it's changed the game itself. Like, I don't understand front-rowers standing out of the scrums and centres packing into the front-row."
Ryan said "bush footy is bush footy", and teams were successful when "you're smart about how you play the game and you control the footy ... and limit your mistakes".
His 95-game top-flight career spanned the NSWRL, the ARL, Super League and finally the NRL.
The Boars have applied to rejoin Group 4 in 2020.
