Every year, we are told the NRL is getting faster.
That the sport is seeing more ball in play, more points, more six-agains, and more fatigue among players.
The stats back it up too. Blowout wins are up, point-scoring is up, and maybe the most telling factor, injuries are up.
That leads to the obvious conclusion that the NRL is fast becoming a younger man's game. There is still room for the experienced veterans, but they are slowly being weeded out of a sport dominated by players in their early to mid 20s.
That is particularly so in the forwards, where Payne Haas is the best prop in the game, and it's daylight second.
Addin Fonua-Blake, Joseph Tapine and James Fisher-Harris are all still very good players, but this season's leading props also include the likes of Haas' Broncos teammate Xavier Willison, Newcastle surprise packet off-season signing Trey Mooney, Penrith gun Lindsay Smith, and there are a host of players on the way through the ranks at various clubs, led by the St George Illawarra Dragons;' six signings of the future - the Couchman brothers and Loko Pasifki Tonga leading the way through the middle.
It's clear that, under the new TV deal which is worth more than $5 billion over the next seven years, the speed of the game is not about to slow down, and it's only going to become tougher and tougher for players on the wrong side of 30.
Particularly middle forwards who grew up playing the game one way, and are now being asked to go about their work in a totally different way.
There is still always going to be room for them in one of the most physical sports on Earth, but clubs need to be careful about getting the balance between youth, speed, and experience skewing too far towards the later of the trio.
Which is why reports on Friday morning that the Brisbane Broncos are interested in having a chat to Moses Leota should raise eyebrows.
Leota's situation has been one to follow with interest this year after he requested permission to have a look around the open market well in advance of November 1, and the Panthers granted it.
It's no secret the Panthers are running into the biggest salary cap crunch they have ever had - and one of the biggest the game has ever seen - at the end of 2027.
From November 1 this year, Leota is joined on a list of players free to negotiate by the likes of Nathan CLeary, Isaah Yeo, Paul Alamoti, Isaiah Papali'i, Brian To'o and a whole host of other players.
They recently managed to take future club captain Mitch Kenny off that list, but that single move has done little to knock away the feeling of nerves for Panthers authorities and recruitment staff as they potentially face a club about to be torn apart by expansion clubs and others keen to get their fingers on players with real winning experience.
Leota, by all accounts, wants to stay at the Panthers, but the club will struggle to come up with the salary cap for him unless they shed a lot of other players.
And there are plenty of outfits around the competition where Leota could fit in quite nicely.
But the Broncos are unlikely to be one of them.
The Broncos recruitment and retention for next year, right now, is a little bit of a sorry state of affairs.
On the recruitment front, they have signed Mitch Barnett, who is already 32 years of age and will play the next three seasons at Red Hill, and Dane Gagai, who is currently 35 years of age, and will be 36 by the start of next season.
The defending premiers, who are going to miss this year's top eight, have also decided to extend the contract of 36-year-old Ben Hunt, who will now go into the mix to play at dummy half against the likes of Blake Mozer and Cameron Bukowski.
The duo are supposed to be the future of Brisbane's number nine jersey, but instead, could be forced to bide their time even longer with the club also re-signing Cory Paix, and being in talks with Billy Walters over an extension.
Signing Leota may be unlikely given salary cap constraints, but for Brisbane to lock up a contract with a fourth player on the wrong side of 30 for next year, and essentially ensure half their top four in the middle third rotation is of that age bracket, simply wouldn't make sense.
It almost screams of a coach trying to find players who will go along with his methods.
Michael Maguire is a successful coach, let's get that clear.
But he is not a long-term successful coach.
He turns a club around, and then they fade, as the Broncos have done this year.
Without a major turnaround next year, he will be in the NRL's hot seat when it comes to keeping a job in the coaching chair, and if he can't find players who go along with his methods, that is the likely result.
But Leota simply isn't the player they need right now.
Brisbane getting older, rather than trying to get younger, is not the way to go, or they risk a Dad's Army epidemic in a competition suited less to it than it ever has been.
A test forward who is one of the best in the game? Any club would be insane not to sign him. The Broncos have made a huge mistake in signing Bunt and Gagai is uninspiring as well but Carrigan is showing signs of slowing down dramatically. Leota and Barnett would be great to continue to mentor Willison and Francis.
The reality is, the Broncs have made huge mistakes in their retention by letting all of Haas, Flegler and Hetherington go. Talty, Tawha and Preston Riki have all ranged from poor to absolutely terrible. You need guys who can motor forward to allow Walsh and Mam to do their thing and Leota would massively help with that.