One of the NRL's fiercest competitors, Addin Fonua-Blake, has issued a major warning to the NRL that certain rule changes will result in fewer big-bodied players choosing rugby league.
With Peter V'Landys and Andrew Abdo trying to create a faster game with fewer stoppages, changes such as the six-again rule have been introduced to create more free-flowing action for fans.
While this certainly suits smaller and quicker players, Fonua-Blake believes that if the NRL continues down this path, players like him will eventually explore other options.
"I feel like they [the NRL] changed the rules so many times to accommodate the smaller player, but it's starting to rub out the bigger players," Fonua-Blake told foxsports.com.au.
"Whilst the game is interesting when it's faster, the fans do love seeing the big boys running straight or doing those collisions.
"The way they are making the game at the moment, it's very hard for blokes like us [front-rowers] to stay in the game.
"They're taking the collisions out, so in a few more years, there probably won't be a need for bigger bodies like us in their game.”
The 30-year-old's comments come just months after Nelson Asofa-Solomona left the NRL to pursue a career in boxing, citing that he felt his body was now too big for rugby league.
With Asofa-Solomona's decision fresh in the mind, Fonua-Blake has requested the NRL sit down with players to re-assess the rules before the sport risks alienating the next generation of big men.
“Maybe in the near future, the NRL needs to sit down with a few of the players and go back through the rules. That wouldn't hurt them either." Fonua-Blake added.
