THE RFL have confirmed that match limits are in place on players this year.
Ahead of the 2024 season a recommendation from the sport’s Health and Clinical Advisory Group, to limit the number of minutes any individual could play, was approved by the governing body.
The measure was introduced at all professional levels in a bid to decrease cumulative load on players throughout their careers.
Forwards over 22 were limited to 25 full game equivalents (an 80-minute period) or 2,000 minutes of rugby. Backs over 22 were limited to 30 full game equivalents in a 12-month period or 2,400 minutes.
For forwards 22 or younger, the limit was set at 20 full game equivalents, with backs under the age of 22 able to fulfil 25 full game equivalents.
Players 18 or under were set with an even lower match limit, with forwards having 15 full game equivalents and backs 20.
But RFL chief executive Tony Sutton says: “It is very much live.
“They are managed over a rolling twelve-month basis, allowing clubs to manage those pretty dynamically as you move season-by-season.
“It was introduced last year and is used again last year.”
Sutton also said that the measure could evolve over time to be more individualised as the RFL collected more data on player brain health.
A wealth of information is being collected, chiefly from the instrumented mouthguards now used by every Super League player.
“Individual player-led data allows us to look at how that might develop,” Sutton added.
“(Match limits) are a relatively blunt tool – when we have played-led data and when we understand that data better, it might be that we’re able to replace full-game equivalents with individual player limits.”
