Quote ="DaveO"Why not? That rule existed for decades and was taken as read.
Being hard to enforce doesn't mean you should not have the rule. It's not that hard to enforce it anyway. I am not sure what your point is/was about minor injuries but whatever it was I don't see what minor injuries have got to do with a team fielding an obviously reserve grade side and so being asked to explain why.'"
I am now certain that you are being deliberately obtuse.
But just in case, I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT THE EXTREME CASES WHERE IT IS OBVIOUS THAT A COACH IS FIELDING A RESERVE SIDE!!!!!!!!!!
For the umpteenth time, I am talking about a week to week basis when coaches just make 2 or 3 changes. How can you police that? How can anyone but the coach decide what his "strongest 17" is for any particular game? If a coach picks 17 players one week and makes 2 changes the week after, which is his strongest team? In which instance would he breaking the rules? Again, for your sake, I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT EXTREME CASES.
With regards to minor injuries, again I am repeating myself but I'll try again. If a coach didn't pick a certain player as he had a very slight injury that he didn't want to risk, and by the time that player was referred to the RFL doctor the day after the injury had improved, how will the RFL prove that he was injured sufficiently to warrant missing the game?
