Wigan Warriors • Re: Disciplinary Outcome - Smith Gets A Fine - No Ban

The resulting international chaos seems to me to be only one of many things that haven't been considered.

The last minute fudge with the Penrith game is 100% proof of that. But as you say, we won't be able to fudge it in World Cups or Test series that are further down the line, as too much time will then have gone for our players to adapt back to playing the real thing.

So, if 2025 goes ahead as planned, it will certainly be the end of international RL ... at least where British players are concerned, which most likely will have a domino effect on the domestic game, probably in due course at amateur level as well as professional (which will be much sooner).

I hear what people say about trying to reduce head injuries. It's a serious matter. But heavy contact between athletes is a fundamental aspect of rugby league football. There is simply no way round that. No one is supposed to get hurt, but accidents are accidents, and you can't prevent them happening in a sport like this by threatening draconian punishments. The only way to guarantee there'll be no injuries is to ban the game, which is what they are effectively doing ... but only, very mysteriously, in the UK.

If the RFL are insistent on trying to eradicate risk - and it can only be risk to themselves (in other words, to ensure they won't have to pay out big compensation) - the only way forward, as I see it, is to try and establish some kind of legally sound contract for players, whereby they accept a personal risk if they're going to participate. Surely it can't be impossible to do that? There are many other dangerous sports in the world, which involve potential head injuries - NFL, NRL, ice hockey, boxing, MMA - I just don't understand why it's only us who are facing this threat.