The more i think about this rule, the more ludicrous it feels

Can you imagine Alex Ferguson telling Rooney he couldnt play in a champions league final cos he'd played too many games or a Liverpool manager telling Michael Owen he couldnt play for England in the world cup cos he'd played too many club games for Liverpool


i appreciate there is a player welfare thought behind it, but surely that must be on the club / coaching team to recognise when a player is fatigued etc. They have so much information available to them now, that they are in such a good place.


I train for triathlons, and I / coaches can see everything about me via an online app with data from my watch. Every session i complete has relevant information about Heart Rate / Fatigue etc ,and that along with my feedback can allow training sessions to be changed especially if my data is showing i am fatigued. Surely if i can do that as a rank amateur, then professional organisations will have far more data available to them from every weights session, training session and match to be able to make a judgement on a player. Very often when a young player is introduced, they are drip fed, with the odd exception, but as fans we can see the drop in performance if they have played too much, and the scenario is often a game or 2 on the sidelines. That part isnt rocket science, so surely with everything available this ruling / proposed ruling needs to be pushed back on by the clubs

Yeh, I think a bigger bench could have merit. It would give more tactical variation to the game and make it easier to bring youngsters on.


I do get the argument that it would benefit "bigger" clubs more, I don't necessarily agree with that but its worth a trial or a discussion at least?

I’d be all in favour of a bigger bench, as a start increase to 6 but 2 of the 6 have to be under 21 at the start of the season.

I agree but it doesn't mean that there should be more substitutions, just a greater choice.

I've always believed that you should have eight players on the bench (substitutes) but but no interchanges, once a player is off he can't return unless it's a hia.
Allow six substitutions from those eight players. At least two of the players should be 21 or under at the start of the season and four should be home grown.

Sounds like Harvie Hill had an eventful afternoon in the reserves Derby, two tries and a red card