Rugby League Coaching Toolkit
The Rugby League Coaching Toolkit pairs a to-scale tactics board with a set-of-six storyboard, a defensive retreat guide, a session planner, fitness timers and a match desk. The field is drawn from geometry — 100 × 68 m plus 8 m in-goals, 116 m end to end — and every scoring value comes from the competition setting you confirm.
How to use this calculator
- Start on the Tactics tab: the board opens with an illustrative Rugby League example, drawn to scale in metres. Drag tokens, or select one in the object list and move it with the arrow keys.
- Use Run, Pass, Carry and Screen to draw movement: click a token, then where it goes (for a pass, click the receiver). Set timings and an instruction in the inspector.
- Add scenes with 'Continue to new scene', and add branches for what happens when the opposition or context changes. Play a scene or the whole sequence; captions and a transcript follow along.
- Open a starter drill from the Drills tab, plan sessions (including parallel stations) on the Training tab, time fitness work on the Fitness tab and keep a match record on Match day.
- Export a PDF, SVG, PNG or .zcoach file. Exports are anonymised unless you choose to include names, notes or results.
How it works
Everything on the board is stored in real field units, not screen pixels: the board scales uniformly to fit, and rotating or zooming the view never changes a stored position. Field markings are generated from geometry, so fixed-size markings keep their size on a custom field.
A playbook is a graph of scenes joined by labelled branches. Paths move tokens at constant speed along their length; a pass carries the ball to its receiver, and a warning appears if the receiver will not be there. A loop must have a repeat limit before it can play or export.
The tackle count is a reducer: Tackle adds one, a restart or a turnover start a new set, and the count never advances past the limit by itself — the coach chooses what happens after the last tackle.
The retreat guide draws a line the chosen distance behind the ball for the defending side. It is a teaching overlay, not an offside ruling.
Drills and playbooks are checked so a hand pass between players never travels forward.
Your work saves automatically in this browser about half a second after each change, with undo for the last 100 edits and the last 20 saved revisions kept. A board changed in another tab is never overwritten silently — you can keep yours as a copy.
Worked example
Worked example: scoring. Three tries, two conversions and one penalty goal: 3 × 4 + 2 × 2 + 1 × 2 = 18 points with the standard values. Where a competition authorises a two-point field goal, set it in the match setup — earlier field goals keep the value they were recorded with.
Common mistakes
- Copying one competition's field-goal or interchange rules into another. Confirm the values for your competition; switching to a custom profile never carries old values across silently.
- Reading the retreat guide as a referee's line. It shows a coach-set distance from the ball, nothing more.
- Sharing a named export by accident. Exports leave out names, notes and results unless you tick them in, and anonymising removes them from the file rather than hiding them.
Frequently asked questions
How long is a rugby league field with in-goals?
With a 100 m field of play and 8 m in-goal areas at each end, the diagram is 100 + 2 × 8 = 116 m long. In-goal depth is editable for your venue.
Is my team's information uploaded?
No. Boards, rosters, sessions, results and matches are saved only in this browser on this device, with no account. Anyone using the same browser profile can see them, and clearing site data removes them — download a backup from the Library tab if they matter.
Are the drills and plays official?
No. The Rugby League starter drills and playbooks are original teaching examples written for this toolkit and still awaiting review by qualified coaches. They are a starting point, not a complete curriculum, and contact is none by default.
Does the toolkit apply the rules of my competition?
It draws field markings from published geometry and keeps every competition-dependent value — scoring values, period lengths, interchange limits — as a setting you confirm. Advisories (legal areas, offside position, retreat lines) are teaching overlays, never a referee's decision.
Can I share a play with my team?
Yes, by file: export a PDF or image for players, or a .zcoach file another coach can import. An imported file opens as a new copy and never overwrites your work. There is no hosted team link.
Is the shuttle timer a beep test?
No. It is a custom paced shuttle you configure — lane length, speeds, shuttles and recoveries — and it is labelled as not a standardised test. Named standard tests stay switched off until their exact timing, rules, edition and reuse rights are verified, and no VO2 or fitness ranking is produced.
Related tools
- Australian Rules Football Coaching Toolkit
- Netball Coaching Toolkit
- Basketball Coaching Toolkit
- American Football (Gridiron) Coaching Toolkit
- Cricket Coaching Toolkit
- Football (Soccer) Coaching Toolkit
Explore more in Health, Fitness, Nutrition & Body.
Cite this tool
Zerdly. (2026). Rugby League Coaching Toolkit. Retrieved from https://www.zerdly.com/tools/rugby-league-coaching/
Tip: Enter any known values to calculate the remaining results.
Designed to run locally in your browser. Tool inputs are not intentionally stored by Zerdly unless stated otherwise.