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Playmaker’s Insight: Preparing for an uncertain NRL future

Raiders veteran Sam Williams looks at the immediately changing landscape for players.

Playmaker's Insights
Sam Williams

Canberra Raiders halfback

March 27, 2020

We are currently in the midst of a concerning time for the game, and the players will most certainly be taking a big portion of the impacts of the NRL season being postponed.

What we are facing is unprecedented and with plenty of unknowns, it makes it hard to set plans in place going forward.

What that looks like for players may involve finding work until normality can resume, or perhaps it may not be as long or as dire as forecast. The uncertainty of all of this is hard to deal with.

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We have a large base of players, many who are young and will earn very contrasting amounts to their counterparts.

It will be a major life lesson for many players, but in the short term the wellbeing of each player is paramount.

The routine, the mateship, and the drive that comes with being at your best come game day is not easy to have taken away so quickly.

So although financial changes will be made, these issues are my main concern and shows the importance of having a strong player base of good people, not just good footballers.

Individually we will need to be professional in what we do away from the game to ensure when we do return that the process of getting into playing condition is as short as possible.

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This will have its own challenges if we are put into some form of lockdown as many players live in units within the city.

The opportunity to get outside and train may become very limited.

The lack of weights and gym equipment will no doubt be an issue and one I’m sure our performance department will be looking at now thoroughly.

I will continue to update you all on our circumstances going forward, but if you have any questions please send them through.

The issues relating to SuperCoach will be interesting, but I can see that if the season is shortened, which in every likelihood it will be, I can see some of the star players looking to try and play bigger minutes.

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This will be due to the fact we will be managing bodies over say 15 weeks instead of 30, and every game played will have higher importance.

Players who have suffered long term injuries are likely to be back. Someone like Kieran Foran is likely to play more of the season than first expected, so teams will likely be as close to full strength as possible.

I will be able to give you more of my thoughts once more is known, but there will definitely be some implications on the normal SuperCoach strategies, so be sure to stay in touch with us so we can help you out.

Rugby league community or not, we are all in this together, so let’s stay positive for when we come out the other side and a sense or normality returns.

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