Hopefully, there will be someone at Monday's annual meeting of NRL coaches brave enough to break from the conservative, regimented, no-risk mould of power football practised in 2014.

The most telling statistic on this year's season is the minor and major premiers had the lowest offload rates in the NRL, that is, the least desire to keep the ball alive. Minor premiers and 2013 champions, the Roosters, were ranked equal 15th in offloads in the competition season, with major premiers, the Rabbitohs 14th.

Bish, bash: The Rabbitohs are premiers through sheer force rather than skill. Credit:Getty Images

In other words, the "hit it up, don't pass, drop to your knees in the tackle and play the ball quickly, repeat on the next tackle" brand of football prevailed. Size helps. Big is better in the NRL with the three heaviest teams – Rabbitohs, Roosters and Bulldogs – all lasting the longest in 2014.

Rugby league has returned to the 1998 post Super League model where Wayne Bennett's Broncos did not pass the ball in their own half. The strategy was simply to use the big wingers, Wendell Sailor and Lote Tuqiri, to charge the ball forward from dummy half, with the big props following suit. Shane Webcke was the premium front rower of his era, yet rarely passed the ball. The Broncos simply rolled the ball forward to the forty, kicked to the corners and then waited for an error from the opposition.