Daryl Powell worried about the future of the sport

Rugby league has been under intense pressure the past few months to try and find a way out of the COVID pandemic intact.

But, with continuing postponed games as well as the uncertainty over the World Cup at the end of the year, the sport is starting to unravel before our very eyes.

And, for Castleford head coach Daryl Powell, the problems all started with the “crazy” schedule given at the start of the season.

“I thought we went after too many games anyway, that was crazy the way it was put together,” Powell said.

“There probably isn’t a better way, but it could have been more proactively thought out.

“There are pressures with Sky so it’s a difficult one – it’s a really tough season logistically, but we’ve just got to come out with the integrity of the competition intact.

“Then I think we need to make a smart decision World Cup-wise and next-season wise too.

“We have to get next season right for the sake of the future of the sport.”

Powell was also keen to stress that the short turnarounds are doing nothing but hindering the quality.

“There’s a battle over fixtures, if you look at August and September and you’re trying to fit games in, you dilute this sport so badly there’s hardly a drop of orange in a sink full of water.

“We’ve got to get the quality back and we’ve just got to be smart – we’ve got a game against Catalans to catch up and I don’t know where you can fit that in.

“You are putting players into three or four day turnarounds again and it’s going to be crazy.

“We need to get our heads round the table and get our better players out there on the field more consistently – it’s pretty tough for everybody.”