Wakefield Trinity boss Daryl Powell disagrees with the ongoing call for bye rounds to be introduced in Super League, but has called for a change to the interchange system to help with player welfare.
Comments from both Sam Burgess and Willie Peters have emerged this week, with the Warrington and Hull KR bosses both calling for teams to have weeks off in the season in order to aid recovery and fatigue.
That notion comes ahead of the two’s meeting in mid-August, where they will play their rescheduled round two fixture on a Tuesday night, meaning the pair both have to contend with three games in the space of a week.
Leigh boss Adrian Lam rejected the idea that byes needed to be introduced, claiming that the current schedule is good the way that it is now.
Now, Trinity boss Powell has had his say on the argument, and agrees with Lam that the schedule itself doesn’t need changing.
“I think it’s fine,” he said in his weekly press conference. “I think we get games off. If you get to the Challenge Cup final, I can see it from their perspective, but that’s what you get by being successful, isn’t it?”
What the Wakefield head coach would change, however, is the number of interchanges a team can have, allowing for more rotation within games and a chance for younger players to be easily drip-fed into the full-time Super League environment.
“I would look at it in a slightly different angle,” he said. “If you look at the amount of young players that have got opportunities for Wigan in particular, what they’re doing there, they’re getting players who are getting exposed to the highest level of Super League.
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Wakefield Trinity boss calls for Super League to follow in NRL’s footsteps amid player welfare debate
“We’re wanting to grow young players. We had Kian [McGann] play the other week [against Hull FC]. We’ve got a couple of young players who are getting opportunities.
“I think that would be the beauty of it for me. You never want to have injuries, but if that happens, then your young players get exposed a little bit more.
“I think that’s why we should change the substitutes as well so you can have more younger players on your bench. I think it gives coaches confidence. Sometimes it’s forced on them, and sometimes you get confidence because you’ve got an extended bench, which is a player welfare thing as well.
“I think the beauty of rugby league is it’s long, it’s tough, you’ve got to be durable. If you’re successful, you have to cop a little bit, but that’s the cross you have to bear, I suppose.”
Explaining his idea, Powell would look at something similar to the NRL, who have recently introduced a six-man bench, however only four different players can be used from that six.
He said: “I wouldn’t go too far, but you might put some stipulations in on young players as well. I just think it puts them in the environment and it gives them opportunities.
“I’m not sure I’ve nailed exactly how it would look, but for me I think there would be something in that. What they’re doing in the NRL is an extended bench with different positions on there.
“That’d be something that could potentially help to develop young players, but I certainly think the amount of young players that have got exposure this year. Wigan obviously chose to do it in one game and then have been forced to do it, and the young players are standing up for sure.”
