http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...8/news-story/38c9a9d56c838cf4f4b287be77a0945d
NEW Canterbury coach Dean Pay has slammed the Rugby League Players Association for siding with the NRL over the issue of player welfare relating to five-day turnarounds.
Pay was far from happy that the Bulldogs were one of four clubs along with Wests Tigers, St George Illawarra and Melbourne hit with the equal most five-day turnarounds when the 2018 NRL draw was released.
While those four clubs have three five-day turnarounds, other clubs like Sydney Roosters, Newcastle and Gold Coast have none.
Parramatta, Brisbane, Manly, North Queensland, Cronulla and Penrith all have one, while South Sydney, New Zealand and Canberra have two.
RLPA boss Ian Prendergast issued a statement praising the NRL for what he claimed was a “fair and balanced draw” that included a further reduction in five-day turnarounds.
In actual fact, short-turnarounds only reduce by one game next season, going down from 25 to 24.
But citing an almost 50 per cent reduction between 2016 and 2018, Prendergast said the “balanced draw is a result of the ongoing collaborative approach that the NRL has taken in managing these issues.
“Five-day turnarounds have a significant impact on the overall health and safety of our members.”
Told of those comments, Pay responded: “Hip, hip, hooray.
“They (the RLPA) have obviously looked at it, haven’t gone into it, and said it is good for everyone.
“Like, seriously. You talk about looking after players. They talk about player welfare.
“It is what it is, we just have to deal with it.
“But we go from Townsville on a Saturday (in round six) to the Roosters in Sydney on Thursday (in round seven).
“And the Roosters don’t have any five-day turnarounds?
“There is nothing we can do about it but you would think it would come out a bit fairer than that.”
The Bulldogs also open the season with back-to-back games against Melbourne and the Roosters, who finished the regular season placed first and second.
All up, Canterbury has 13 games against top eight teams and play top-four sides seven times.
In comparison, the Roosters don’t play a rival top four team until round 11 against Brisbane and have the second least amount of games against top four opponents (four in total).
They also play the most games against the bottom four sides.
Parramatta also fared well with one five-day turnaround and only play top four rivals Storm, Roosters and Broncos once during the season, with six games against bottom four teams.
As difficult as it is to come up with a draw that is going to please every club, the 2018 edition certainly raises more questions about the fairness of the competition under the current draw format, where teams don’t play each other twice.
The Tigers were also hammered, copping probably the worst draw of any team.
On top of having the equal most five-day turnarounds, they start with an opening five rounds playing all top four teams from 2017 including premiers Melbourne twice.
They take on the Roosters first followed by Melbourne, Brisbane and Parramatta.
They then have to back up against the Storm in round five on a five-day turnaround for the match to be played in Auckland as part of a double header.
The Tigers then face Manly in round six followed by Newcastle in Tamworth and Parramatta again in round eight.
Not that chief executive Justin Pascoe was complaining.
“The draw is the draw, there will always be perceived winners and losers,” Pascoe said.
“We have little control over it as a club so what we can’t control we feel is pointless worrying too much about it.
“The fact we play a lot of this year’s top sides early we are excited about and will give us an early barometer on where we are as a football side.”
