NRL crackdown puts big boppers at risk

But on the flipside, Mulholland sees a bright future for quick, running hookers like Tom Starling, as well as the ball-playing locks like Rabbitoh Cameron Murray, due to the six-again rules.

Mulholland said the NRL's rule changes would see a shift in club recruitment and he felt forwards could become a uniform size.

That could mean less opportunities for behemoths like 200-centimetre and 115-kilogram Asofa-Solomona in the future - although it didn't stop the man mountain from starring and scoring two tries against the Green Machine on Saturday.

Mulholland's already shaped a more mobile Raiders forward pack, with former Canberra big boppers Shannon Boyd and Junior Paulo both leaving the club at the end of the 2018 NRL season.

The NRL has since further upped the anti with the introduction of the six-again rule, which was designed to speed up the game and increase the players' fatigue levels.

But Mulholland felt the crackdown on high contact could spell trouble for tall players, who will now have to get even lower to tackle.

"It might be a uniform size pack of forwards," he said.

"I wonder with the defensive crackdown if a bloke like Solomona, if a bloke like Jesse Bromwich - six foot four to six foot seven - I just wonder how they're going to handle that.

"There's a lot of little subtle changes in the game that can change your style of your roster."

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With the game speeding up due to the six-again rules, Mulholland felt it could favour quick, running dummy halves as they look to take advantage of tiring middles.

That would benefit Starling, who's facing a race against time to be fit to face the Sydney Roosters at Gosford on Saturday due to an ankle injury.

North Queensland hooker Jake Granville was another Mulholland said was reaping the rewards.

Mulholland also thought ball-playing locks, like Murray and Roosters middle Victor Radley, could become more valuable.

Ironically, Radley's fallen foul of the high-contact crackdown and will miss the Raiders game.

"Look at the dummy halves that are coming through. Jake Granville's now back at the top of his game," Mulholland said.

"Your [Damien] Cooks are going to have a field day eventually, the quick little dummy half. Tommy Starling's doing it. Your quick, speedy, little blokes.

"And it's wrong, it takes away the ball players and I reckon Cameron Smith would've had trouble with this game at the moment, just being a ball-playing dummy half.

"I think that's the way it's going to go. And your ball-playing lock forward will come back in - the Cameron Murrays and the Victor Radleys are going to come to the fore in this as well."

Meanwhile, Raiders co-captain Elliott Whitehead pleaded not guilty to tripping Storm fullback Nicho Hynes and will front the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night.

He could've accepted a fine of $1150 with an early guilty plea, but faces a $1500 fine if found guilty.

NRL ROUND 12

Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at Gosford, 7.35pm.