The NRL has floated the prospect of introducing a third on-field referee in 2016 as part of a sweeping series of mooted changes hailed as the biggest to the game since the introduction of the video referee.

The governing body has engaged former Australian cricket coach John Buchanan and league Immortal Bob Fulton to oversee a full review of the refereeing ranks. Part of their feasibility study will be aimed at trialling a video referee bunker by the middle of next season to improve the consistency of decision making.

The so-called "central command centre", which would be situated in an off-site location, would follow the lead from the NHL and the NBA, which have already embraced the technology. Set to cost the game millions of dollars, it's hoped the innovation will lead to the match review committee laying charges in real time, meaning coaches could have a charge sheet in front of them by the time they get to the post-game press conference.

"A coach could one day sit through a press conference and take the early guilty plea on a grade one if he deemed that was the appropriate decision," said NRL head of football Todd Greenberg, who added the change could realistically be made in time for the 2016 system.