The 2018 NRL finals series has featured a deliberate effort by tacklers, usually in masses of up to four, to force the ball carrier to lose possession by fair means or foul. It’s been labelled ‘contested possession’. Elsewhere it has been argued that this practice is a blight on the game because it is both ugly and, in its adjudication, subjective. Let’s revisit Jim Young’s late August harangue about the contest for possession in rugby league to see if this emerging trend in play might just be a pathway to a fresh look at how the code is played.