7th Tackle: No Cleary, Vunivalu or Ross repeats under new rule

There’s a massive brawl brewing over the NRL’s plan to overhaul the rules around team rosters from next year onwards.

Under the proposal, which also has support from the RLPA, clubs will only be able to use players from a 36-man squad.

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The squad is comprised of 30 senior players and six development players, and the Top 25 must be finalised by the end of pre-season in February.

At present there are no restrictions, apart from the $450,000 second tier cap compliance and a minimum age.

That’s led to the likes of Nathan Cleary, Suiliasi Vunivalu and Nathan Ross jumping from obscurity to NRL stardom virtually overnight.

Under the new system, those stories will become fewer and farther between.

More concerning for coaches is the fact players at reserve grade and Under 20s who are outside the squad could become de-motivated over the course of a long season.

Apart from an NRL exemption in the event of a huge injury toll, they’ll have no hope of graduating to the top grade.

The other concern is that players from within the squad who are dropped to that level could become complacent, with an assurance they are next cab off the rank in the event of injury.

Constantly wanting to promote competition within their squads, several NRL coaches aren’t happy about the implications.