Extended Premiership season could have damaging mental impact – Andy Goode
Premiership Rugby’s new season structure has been packaged as a progressive move to improve player welfare but it could have a damaging effect on players mentally.
I’m sure there are some good intentions behind the measures, which include the introduction of formal rest periods and limiting players to a maximum of 35 match involvements in a season, but to extend the length of the season is not a good move for me.
Players need an extended break in the off-season to get away from rugby completely and playing rugby in 11 months of the year just doesn’t sit right with me.
Players can get mentally burned out as well as affected physically and I think it puts more of a load on them in that department if they’re having to play from September through to July.
It is true that it could have a positive effect physically if it comes to pass that players do play fewer games as a result but I fear it’ll have a negative impact mentally on players because the season will be such a marathon.
It is great that there are going to be “guaranteed in-season breaks” but the reality is that most of the top players get these anyway around the Premiership Rugby Cup weeks.
And, it’s all very well giving players weeks off here and there during the season but they’re still going to have to train the house down a lot of the time in order to keep their competitive edge.
I would have taken it as gospel but if you tell a player nowadays to take a week off during the season, go away on holiday and not train at all or think about rugby, I’d say 99 per cent of them will do some sort of training so it isn’t really a down week and it certainly isn’t a mental break.
My main concern is that I think it goes against what’s good for players in terms of their mental health but I don’t think it goes far enough in terms of restricting the number of games players will play either.
Peter O’Mahony said last month that “rugby has got to the stage where it’s going to be difficult to play 30 games a year” and these new measures are only limiting players to a maximum of 35 match involvements.
Let’s not forget that the intensity and physicality of the sport has gone through the roof and is still increasing as boys train harder in the gym and push the boundaries further and further.
If you speak to a strength and conditioning coach about the power of the players now compared to four or five years ago, they’ll tell you it’s increased a huge amount across the board.
If we’re talking about the number of games, I’d like to see them set the absolute limit for anyone at 30 and enforce that.
Just looking at the number of games players are taking part in is too simplistic as well because what those games involve is so different now. The laws mean that the ball in play time is much higher and a game now is probably equivalent to a game and a half five years ago.
And, it’s not just the games that take their toll on players either, it’s the training. It’s tough to control how much contact training players at different clubs take part in and what’s considered contact training by different coaches.
Even in supposed non-contact sessions I’ve been in certain situations where a coach will say stick your shoulder in and that means a full on smash to some players, whereas to me it means two-handed touch!
Traditionally, Tuesday has been a big smash and bash day at certain clubs and we’ve seen a lot of injuries at full contact and wrestling sessions with England as well. You can’t really control what training teams are doing and it does worry me that players will be training more because of the extended season.
The devil is in the detail and I don’t think we’ve seen it all yet in terms of when the rest periods will be and when the Premiership, Champions Cup, Premiership Rugby Cup and other competitions will actually be played.
At the moment, if you’re a top international star playing for a successful club side, you come straight back from the Six Nations and have one weekend before a European quarter-final. So, in that respect, if you can spread out those high intensity games a bit more, that can only be a good thing.
However, I think there’ll be very mixed reviews from the players when more opinions come to light in due course because a lot weren’t happy when the suggestion was first floated. Tom Youngs even said that the thought of a 10-month campaign “fills players with dread”.
Joe Marler recently retired from international rugby because he didn’t want to be away from his family for so much of the year and playing so much rugby. I don’t think this new plan would help in his situation and other players will feel a similar way I’m sure.
I think players are still a bit confused at the moment about exactly what’s going to happen but if I was still playing and heard this news, I’d be looking 11 months ahead at the start of a season and thinking I could be mentally shot to pieces by the end.
Everyone is trying to work towards a global calendar and have been doing for as long as anyone can remember. The Premiership have made their move and it’ll be interesting to see how this fits in with the PRO14 and Southern Hemisphere competitions when more precise details come to light.
People talk all the time about the physical effects on rugby players but the mental impact is just as important and that’s where this new plan is flawed for me.
The intention to restrict the number of games players have to play is a noble one but I don’t think this goes far enough and mental burnout is going to be a massive issue.
Comments on RugbyPass
Results probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
1 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to comments