Transfer windows would bring challenges to the NRL

Iam not a huge fan of the idea of transfer windows coming into the NRL. Our competition isn’t the same as the NBA or English Premier League, which have been held up as examples.

I know there can be frustration for fans when a player signs with another club mid-season and then plays half a season with his current team.

But generally there’s not much wrong with the current system.

At the end of each season, from November 1, you can have open communication with your club and other teams with regards to your future beyond the next year.

If your current club doesn’t want to make a decision but you decide you want your long-term future secured, you make a call — either go where your next move is guaranteed, or wait for your current club to come back to

you. It’s a brutal industry and an even more brutal game. We all know we’re only one training session or game away from a serious injury.

Playing in the NRL has a very short shelf life and we’re all going to be around with our families long after our footy lives have finished.

Having a contract guaranteed for a set period of time helps provide stability in an often unstable environment.

And all clubs are aware of November 1. If you’re a priority to retain, they’ll look to get it done as soon as possible. If you’re not, they won’t, or they’ll look for a reason to delay it, and as soon as that happens, doubt around your future creeps in.

The new proposal — which could see three transfer windows a year — could lead to some tough decisions. Players could be traded, sold, bought after six months and have to pack up and move their lives again.

That happens in different sports around the world, but it has never happened in ours, so would be a significant shift for everyone.

There are a lot of questions still to be answered. I’m a bit of a traditionalist and I’d hate to see players treated like commodities, like we see in American sports.

The stripping rule has been another hot topic.

I can understand why people might find it exciting, adding a bit of uncertainty to the game.

I had no dramas with the one-onone strip, but I think the new rule puts a lot more pressure on referees to make a decision which can have significant ramifications on games.

It’s such a contentious area — as we saw in our game against the Eels recently — and if you get the wrong call coming out of your own end, it can have a massive impact.

The potential for a big game to be determined by a mistake in that area is real. When that happens, I’m sure we’ll all be talking about it a lot more.

We also don’t want to see ball carriers in our sport start looking like NFL running backs, where their arms are completely wrapped around the ball. The rule used to be quite clear, but now it is really grey, and grey never goes down well in the NRL.

Kodi Nikorima has trained well this week and looks positive for tomorrow, as long as he gets through today’s captain’s run. Hopefully he does, and it will be good to have him back out there.

The Roosters have been really good this year and were very effective against the Raiders last week. They are unbeaten at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2019 and one of the high end teams of the competition.

I imagine most people don’t give us a chance but we can turn that into a positive; just like last week, dive into it, bring some real intent along with composure and make a good fist of things.

We also have some good memories of our last encounter in Sydney

(a 30-6 win in round four in 2018), a really good performance in afternoon conditions.