- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Opinion
Much has been said and written in recent times about the apparent rising injury toll in the NRL.
Theories for this increase abound, including the faster game under the six-again rule, the bigger bodies of NRL players compared to those of days gone by, the ball-and-all tackling style of the modern game and the impact of foul play.
Whatever the reason, it appears that the number of players unavailable at any one time is higher than ever, and it’s clearly affecting the ability of teams to perform at their best.
Coming into Round 11, there are some 105 players unavailable through either injury or suspension. Included in the injured list are a dozen players who are gone for the season, and about the same number whose return date is currently classified as “indefinite”. Just to put that into perspective, the 105 unavailable players represent just over one-fifth of the total roster strength of the 16 clubs.
Some clubs are faring far worse than others in regards to player unavailability, with the cellar-dwelling Dogs missing ten players this week, while Manly, St George, the Knights and the Raiders all have nine players out. At the other end of the scale, competition front-runners Penrith are at full strength, while the Tigers and the Eels are only missing two and three players respectively.
Whichever way you look at it, that’s a lot of talent unavailable, but it can’t all be blamed on injury. Following the magic round foul play purge last week, there are 16 players currently suspended. Injuries are bad enough and will no doubt continue, with even more players potentially rubbed out for the season, so clubs just can’t afford to make their position even worse through player suspensions.
In this regard, the sooner both players and clubs get on board with the new normal in relation to send-offs and suspensions the better.
Just to illustrate the impact of suspensions on playing strength, here’s a team selected from those players who will be missing Round 11 courtesy of the judiciary:
1. Tyrone Peachey
2. Mikaele Ravalawa
3. Marata Niukore
4. Tyrell Fuimaono
5. Tautau Moga
6. Jack Wighton
7. Dylan Brown
8. Josh Papalii
9. Josh Hodgson
10. Jack Hetherington
11. David Fifita
12. Tariq Sims
13. Herman Ese’ese
That’s a lot of talent wasted, and many of them have suspensions that will see them out for some further time.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.