Wigan coach Matt Peet revealed he has ‘some ideas up his sleeve’ for the introduction of the captain’s challenge in 2025. The rule will be used for all televised fixtures, allowing the captain to contest one referee decision per game, which will be retained if they are successful.

It was introduced by the Australian NRL in 2020 and used for the delayed 2021 World Cup in England. And Peet, who guided the Warriors to a quadruple last year, has already done his homework on how best to utilise it.

Peet said: “We haven't had a chance to really test it, but we have some ideas up our sleeve. We spoke to a few people from the NRL and watched a bit of footage and reflected on things so yeah, I look forward to it.

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“We've got a few meetings with the referees as well, but, I think it’s a good tool for the players. I also think it strengthens the referee when they're getting questions on things, they have that thing where they can say, would you like to challenge it?”

The challenge can only be used in instances where the referee blows the whistle to stop play, except for injuries. The captain will then have 10 seconds to make a challenge. Scenarios where it can not be used include time wasting, dissent, forward passes and discretionary penalties such as defending sides being offside, ruck infringements relating to the speed of the play the ball and players tackled into touch or in-goal after the held call.

Liam Farrell, who took over as captain last year, said: “It can only be a positive. There’s a lot of pressure on referees, players disagree with them sometimes and now there’s a chance to overrule the referees and players can make that decision between themselves.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for players to try and get the game a little more equal, so hopefully we can speak about it as a team and come up with some decisions where we’re not making rash calls and making more decision based calls.” Farrell will seek assistance from key players when using the challenge.

The England international said: “I’m guessing I’ll be the one who makes the final decision, but I’ll have my spine with Bevan (French), Jai (Field) and Harry (Smith). They’ll make some calls there as well. If you get some desperate calls from front rowers or other players, I’ll take them into account as well.”

Similar challenge systems have been introduced in other sports including tennis, cricket, and American football. Adam Keighran, who joined Wigan in 2023 from Catalans Dragons, has experience of the captains challenge after previously playing for New Zealand Warriors and Sydney Roosters in the NRL.

He said: “It can’t be a bad thing for the game, whether it slows it down a little bit, but I think you get the right calls and that's going to make for better and more consistent results.” It will be one of four rule changes for the upcoming season, alongside contested dropouts, offside kick chasers and the green card.

Under contested dropouts, teams will not be penalised under the sticks, if the ball does not go 10 metres or goes out on the full. The change to offside kick chasers means players will only be deemed offside if they affect the outcome of the play.

The green card will now also apply to attacking players, who will have to leave the field for a concussion assessment if the referee calls time off. The new rules will be introduced from February 13, when Wigan Warriors host Leigh Leopards.