THE NRL are considering a potential reduction in the interchange, according to NRL 360 host Paul Kent.

The interchange currently sits at eight and could be dropped to six as a way to combat the injury toll across all clubs.

The NRL’s competition committee will meet on Friday and the topic will be discussed.

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Round 20

“There are 74 players this week not playing rugby league because they’re injured,” Kent told NRL 360 on Tuesday.

“There are already a dozen players who are out for the season nine rounds in.”

Kent said there’d been a drop in injuries since the NRL originally reduced the interchange from 10 to eight at the start of 2016.

“In 2015 when we played with 10 interchange, there was 1018 games missed because he injury,” he explained.

“ ... Last year we went down to 813 when we had eight interchange.

“This year we’re tracking again for last year’s figures.

“So there is an assumption there, purely from an injury point of view, by tacking out continually fresh players out of the game, the game slows and some of the high impact injuries we’re seeing are no prevalent.”

Kent said in his discussions with Todd Greenberg that the NRL chief executive believed the game had a better feel to it when the interchange was dropped from 10 to eight and that now was the time to consider reducing it further.

Cronulla veteran Luke Lewis backed the changes and said the game had been crying out for it over the past two to three years.

“It’ll bring the small guys back, players like the Preston Campbells who are nippy around tired forwards,” Lewis told NRL 360.

“Coaches will have to restructure the way they do their interchange.

“I think it’ll quicken up the ruck and it’ll solve a lot of the questions when it comes to the big contracts front rowers are asking.

“If you can play 80 minutes, then you can start asking for bigger money.”

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