Length of the season needs looking at, admits Kristian Woolf

Drew Darbyshire 28 Nov 2019 2:04 PM

St Helens coach Kristian Woolf thinks the length of the Super League and NRL seasons need to be shorter so there can be more international fixtures.

Some Super League teams could play more than 35 games next season including the Challenge Cup, while the NRL has a shorter team with no cup competition.

Woolf, who is also coach of the Tonga national side, believes there should be more international fixtures in the rugby league calendar.

He said: “I think it is very long. With the Great Britain series, I think what you did see at the end of the tour is a lot of tired bodies and there were lots of players who weren’t just physically tired but mentally tired as well.

“There are a lot of players in the Great Britain squad who have played a long season here and had some success over here too and that brings with it some highs and some lows at different periods.

“To go straight in to a Nines tournament and then a four-game test series makes it a very long season.

“I’ve only been here five minutes so I’m not going to start telling anyone what to do but I think the game on both sides of the world need to make sure there’s a lot of progression made with international rugby league.

“I’m a big part of that because I’m with Tonga and I’m a big supporter of international rugby league. We need to keep growing the game but we also need to make sure we find ways to do that so the players aren’t just playing more football.

“There has got to be a bit of give and take somewhere, it’s not just an English problem but an Australian problem as well. We need to look at the scheduling.”