Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has told the NRL to back off and not take the decision over whether State of Origin players should back up away from clubs.
Traditionally, a vast majority of Origin players will back up from a Wednesday night encounter between the New South Wales Blues and Queensland Maroons between 48 and 96 hours after full time.
A radical proposal reported during the week of Origin 3 this year though suggests the Rugby League Players Association and NRL are going to explore the option of mandating the fact that players can't back up over welfare issues.
Stuart, speaking to the media, has advised the NRL to back off and leave the decision with coaches.
"I can't see how that can be an NRL decision. That should be a club decision," Stuart said.
"Coaches aren't given enough credit for what we do from a high-performance point of view for our players.
"If I thought Josh [Papalii] needed a rest I'll give Josh a rest.
"It's not the games that are going to hurt them it's the training. It's the loads they do during the week.
"It's not the 40-50 minutes that Josh will play. I hope there's a little bit more consultation over that before they go racing off and making their decision.
"I've done it before, but we look after their loads. The boys are downstairs now looking after their recovery."
During the regular season, the RLPA, clubs and NRL have agreed that five days should be the minimum turnaround for a club between one game and the next.
That doesn't apply for State of Origin though, with coaches and players making the decision.
While some clubs have often rested players, led by Craig Bellamy at the Melbourne Storm over the years, and the Penrith Panthers are resting all of their Origin contingent this weekend against the Wests Tigers, the Raiders are playing their players, and James Tedesco even admitted after playing the Dragons on Saturday that Trent Robinson had told him he wouldn't be getting a rest owing to the Roosters' precarious ladder position.
