The NRL have finally moved to change one of the biggest issues in the game - blue shirt trainers.

While the job definition might be to run water and grab players for interchanges, the role has become so much more than that for most clubs around the competition.

So far has the job has skewed; you could virtually rename it from blue shirt trainer to on-field coach, and no one would bat an eyelid.

As is the case with just about every other rule that has needed changing in the NRL in recent times, coaches have essentially created the situation by trying to bend the rules.

The game needing to be sped up with six agains came about because of wrestling and teams fighting to slow the ruck down, and changes to rules around milking and head high contact have come about because of players taking the mickey, as just two examples.

Trainers overstaying their welcome on the field of play was the obvious next crackdown and change for the NRL.

While there have been rare issues over the years with the ball contacting trainers, or them getting in the way of the play when they have been on the field at times they shouldn't have been, the bigger issue has been the way they effectively act as an extension of the coach.

In a message uncovered from NRL CEO Andrew Abdo by News Corp regarding blue shirt trainers, he clarified the new rules, and confirmed the reasons they were being brought in.

"Blue trainers will no longer be permitted access for tactical messages during play," Abdo is understood to have written.

"Messages will only be permitted after a try has been scored.

"After a try has been scored, trainers must remain with the defensive team until after the conversion is attempted.

"Trainers must run on and off the field at all times and will not be permitted to loiter on the field at any time.

"These changes will ensure player safety is maintained while limiting the opportunity for the constant relaying on messages during play."

It's clear, though, that the way trainers have conveyed messages and influenced game play over the years is the key reason for the change.

And change it will - the sport as a whole.

The role of the halfback is important no matter the trainer, but it's about to go to a whole new level in 2026.

Without constant messaging, play direction and calling, and an experienced head monitoring things without the pressure of executing, the on-field decision making by players will need to take over.

That's not to say players don't do it already, but to suggest the playing group - and more specifically the key members of the spine - make every decision for 80 minutes would be somewhat foolish.

But from 2026, they will be more or less on their own.

There is only so much good training programs and combinations will do once the fatigue of an NRL match - particularly in the fast-paced modern era where every rule change in recent times has been about fatigue and a faster game - sets in.

Experience is one thing, and it will certainly make a difference, but teams with good decision makers and game managers in the number seven will be advantaged.

Think the Brisbane Broncos with Adam Reynolds, the Melbourne Storm with Jahrome Hughes, the Parramatta Eels with Mitchell Moses and the Penrith Panthers with Nathan Cleary.

One would expect those four teams to be advantaged among others, while other teams with less experienced halfbacks, or even players who simply prefer a running game over a game management one - think the Wests Tigers with Jarome Luai, for example, who has spent much of his career at five-eighth - could cop the rough end of the stick.

There are also young halfbacks who will be properly put through their paces.

Isaiya Katoa at the Dolphins, for example, or Luke Metcalf at the New Zealand Warriors. Both are playing in teams where finals are the expectation in 2026, but now needing to step up even more than they otherwise might have been required to.

The game is about to change, but the benefits, or disadvantages to some teams, will only become clear as the season kicks off.

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