English rugby league games could be shortened to an hour and broken into four quarters for rest of 2020 under a proposal put forward by veteran coach Brian McDermott.
Facing a similar predicament to the NRL, the English Super League has been cancelled for the past two weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s feared several clubs will face financial hardship, with staff stood down and players conceding they may need to take pay cuts.
The game is naturally desperate to find ways to restart once the virus begins to clear, with multiple games per week an option to make up for lost time.
McDermott, who won four titles with Leeds and is now at the helm of the Toronto Wolfpack, believes if that is the case games should be shortened and broken into quarters.
Under the proposal given to English rugby league magazine Forty20, McDermott argued it would ensure the quality remained the same despite the increased workload.
Crucially, he also argued it would present more value to broadcasters who can fill more advertisement slots in the breaks between quarters, given television networks have lost out with games being abandoned.
McDermott’s suggestions are only for the English game, however they could prove an eye opener for the NRL who are also trying to make up for lost games and appease TV networks who have stopped paying broadcast fees.
“Given the landscape we find ourselves in and the parameters of welfare which cannot be dismissed, why not introduce the idea of four 15-minute quarters?” McDermott wrote.
“In my experience, those who would normally play 80 minutes but have been substituted for the final 15 or 20, have reported back how much fresher they feel 48 hours afterwards.
“Not only would that be preserving them but it would enable the quality to remain higher throughout this most demanding of periods, with more of the star names on display for longer.”
McDermott reasoned that the game had regularly changed rules to attract fans throughout history, including going from 15 players to 13, introducing the play-the-ball and six-tackle sets.
“There is an appeal for new, younger audiences bred on shortened forms of sport, especially if the excitement generated is more relentless rather than less,” he said.
“The broadcasters (would) have more, natural advertising breaks to recoup some of the income they have lost over this period and see a sport worth continuing to invest in that is not afraid to look at a wider picture.”
Meanwhile Leeds owner Gary Hetherington has also claimed sides may need to play three games a week to make up for lost matches and revenue.
