BY ROSS HEPPENSTALL
Leeds Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington has claimed the impending fixture backlog facing rugby league will sort out “the tough and not-so-tough” players in the game, and believes there will be need to stage three games per week.
The season is currently suspended indefinitely and it appears unlikely to resume until June at the earliest with the country currently in lockdown.
Games could eventually be played behind closed doors as Super League clubs work frantically to arrange a revised fixture list and keep Sky – the game’s paymaster – happy.
Hetherington believes the season could even run into 2021 given the amount of fixtures that still need to be played and the prospect of midweek games appears a near certainty.
That has raised concerns over player welfare but Hetherington, himself a former player, insists it comes down to the issue of performance levels as opposed to player care.
The 66-year-old former rugby league player was born and raised in Castleford and has spent almost his entire life in the 13-a-side code.
But in a media briefing with journalists on Wednesday, Hetherington said: “The term player welfare is often misguided and misunderstood.
“We have a rule where we can’t play five days after the last game, and that’s going to have to go out of the window because we will have to be playing three times a week.
“But that’s not a player welfare issue. It will certainly impact on performance and the skill levels, but it demands real character, durability and resilience.
“I’d be disappointed if I started hearing people whinging and using player welfare as an issue for playing too many games, when it’s not an issue.
“Player welfare is very serious but that’s not about playing more games than one would hope to play.
“I think that will have an impact on the competitions, because normally, the team who wins the Super League is the most talented.
“But I think the winners this year could well be the team that’s not the most talented, and instead the team that displays the best character and can-do attitude and will to win.”
Hetherington amassed nearly 300 games for Wakefield Trinity, York, Leeds, Huddersfield, Hunslet, Kent Invicta and even had a loan game for Wigan in the 1970s.
He added: “What is player welfare? Player welfare is stress, anxiety and mental health – it’s a whole range of issues.
“But we’re talking about playing sport, and rugby league is a tough sport.
“If we turn the clock back, everyone used to play four times at Christmas.
“These are characteristics our players are proud to have, that they can play with adversity.. but that’s not player welfare, that’s a performance issue.
“Those are the sorts of qualities that will have to come to the fore and we’ll have to rely on.
“Let’s not be misguided and talk about player welfare – it will sort out the tough and not-so-tough ones, that’s for sure.”
The Rhinos have closed down their operations at Emerald Headingley and their Kirkstall training ground with the majority of players and staff having been placed on furloughed leave.
