Major video referee change headlines two law amendments for 2026 as new system explained

British rugby league fans will not hear ‘I’ve got a try on field’ in 2026, with the video referee system changing ahead of 2026 as it adopts a live review format.

From the start of next season, if an on-field referee’s live decision is ‘try’, they will no longer need to call time off and carry out the T signal for the video referee to then review it.

Instead, the on-field referee will award the try, and the video referee will check the decision in the background without the game clock being stopped.

The subsequent conversion will not be allowed to be taken until the video referee is satisfied that the ruling of ‘try’ from the on-field referee does not need to be overturned.

Once 80 seconds have passed by with the video referee’s review in the background taking place, the on-field referee will then call ‘time off’.

And notably, if the video referee does find a reason to overturn the on-field call of ‘try’, the game clock resets back to the point in time that the on-field referee blew his or her whistle to award the try in the first place.

This system is similar to the one used in the NRL, where the video referee only intervenes once a try has been awarded on the field if the decision needs to be overturned.

It’s also worth noting that if the on-field referee has a call of ‘no try’ but wants the decision to be reviewed, nothing has changed in relation to that process.

In that instance, time will still be called off and the decision will be referred upstairs to the video referee for a check.

Major video referee change headlines three law amendments for 2026 as new system explained

The change to the video referee system where on-field ‘try’ calls are made is one of two law amendments which have been approved by the RFL board for the 2026 season.

Elsewhere, there will now be a 60-second time limit applied to penalties and conversions.

That 60-second countdown will begin once the video referee confirms a try. The ball muse be kicked before the expiry of the shot clock.

But, if the kicking process is corrupted – with the example of the ball falling off the tee – then the shot clock will be stopped and will not restart. That kick will still be allowed to take place.

So, as an example, if Harry Smith went to kick a conversion with three seconds left on the shot clock and the ball fell of the tee, he would still be permitted to line it back up and take the conversion.

The law amendments were recommended by the RFL Laws Committee following a meeting on October 29, and were approved by the RFL board last week.

Accordingly, both of those laws will be amended as stated in time for the beginning of the 2026 season.