ARLC chairman Peter V'landys has revealed his plans to reduce interchange as early as next season.
Speaking to theย The Daily Telegraph,ย V'landys said the interchange could come down from eight per team to most likely six.
This comes after previous speculation that the NRL could reduce the interchange cap to as low as four per team.
V'landys has stated he hopes the move would raise fatigue and therefore lead to less wrestling in the ruck.
โLook, the objective is to have a free-flowing game of rugby league that is not all about defence,โ Vโlandys toldย The Daily Telegraph.
โWe are in the entertainment business and the very loud message I got from the broadcasters is that we are not as entertaining as we once were.
โAnd that is because of the wrestle, the slowing down of the ruck and not as much fatigue.
โSo basically we have to look at all that.
โWe need to make our game attractive to the fans. And I think Ricky Stuart and Wayne Bennett (two coaches who have spoken out in support of Vโlandysโ wrestle crackdown) have realised that we are making a less attractive product because of the wrestle and the slowness of the ruck and making it all about defence.
โSo, yes, we will certainly be looking at it. Otherwise, be prepared to take cuts because the broadcasters arenโt going to pay for a product that people donโt want to watch.
โI make no secret that we want a free-flowing, entertaining game and we will do everything we can to get there.
โOtherwise, it devalues our product to the broadcasters.
โYou canโt expect to get the big wages and then provide an inferior product.
โI am going to make no apology that we will get the game to be attractive to the audience.โ
