Manly want unlimited interchange

With debate continuing to rage about short turnarounds in the NRL, Manly have piped up suggesting that teams on a five day turnaround should have access to unlimited interchange in those matches.

The Sea Eagles are in the midst of a tough slog of fixtures where they faced Cronulla last Monday, the Roosters on Saturday and now another five-day turnaround to host South Sydney on Thursday this week. The lack of recovery and training has already seen injuries to four key Eagles out of the last 160 minutes of football, with club official Peter Peters telling News Lyd papers that their draw is 'unfair'.

Peters' suggestion was that extra interchanges be introduced to ensure player welfare was a priority.

"Every team playing a second game within five days should have unlimited interchange available," Peters said. "At the moment it's unfair - something may happen next year but right now, things could be turned upside down by this uneven competition. Some teams get five day turnarounds, others don't."

It won't be the only time Manly are forced to deal with small gaps between matches, with the side facing the Warriors in Auckland on Saturday in Round 6 before travelling home to host Parramatta the following Thursday in Round 7. Peters foreshadowed that legal action wasn't beyond the realms of possibility.

"Really fatigued players are more likely to get injured, and if that happens, then the governing body might suffer the consequences legally one day."