Baz backs the call for fixture debate. : Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:26 pm
Keighley Cougars Head Coach Barry Eaton has joined the call for the game to debate the future of double fixtures during the Easter holiday break.
A keen student of the game, Eaton is keen to see clubs committed to just one fixture during the holiday period rather than two within three or four days.
“I think the time is right for us to think seriously about the situation”, said Eaton. “We suffered badly with a crop of injuries at Easter in 2008 and the same has happened again this year.
“We were already suffering from injuries when we went into our Good Friday game against York City Knights. We picked up some more early in the match, so some of the players who would have been spelled had to play longer than we anticipated.
“Because of the situation that same set of players had to play longer than they would have normally three days later against Hunslet. And it showed by the end of the game.
“I’m also worried about the cumulative effect on the players later. We could see the damage emerge two or three weeks later or even at the end of the season.
“It’s also harder for the Co-operative Championship club players because they have to go to work as well. The engage Super League club’s players have access constant medical care and conditioning while players at such clubs as the Cougars have to attend their day jobs.
“The game has changed in recent years. The impacts are stronger and the players are far more intensively trained, so we owe it to the players to consider what’s best for them.
“So far as I can se nobody has ever asked the players what they think or the fans and I think it would be interesting to poll them.
“At what point does adherence to tradition diverge with what’s best for the players? It’s an interesting thought and I think we owe it to our sport to have the debate.”
Eaton is also concerned that when fixtures are played over the holiday period that they should be played at the same time.
“We played two games over the Easter period and then had a weekend off,” said Eaton. “I would rather have had one game in each weekend and I think the fans would prefer that option too.
“Also if you allow clubs to re-arrange games away from the recognised game day slot it presents then with what I consider an unfair advantage of extra rest time.
“I don’t think the match attendances justify having two games so close together. In these days of tough financial times fans struggle to find the cash and I think the attendances would be better if we separated them by more time.
“It’s a tough one for the game but we need to have the debate. The winners over Easter will always want to defend it but in real terms the game has moved on to such an extent that we need to reconsider our position.
“I think the game is big enough to be critical of itself and to understand that we shouldn’t just sacrifice the players for the sake of tradition alone”.
