Bennett calls for post season trade-off

Veteran coach Wayne Bennett has implored NRL officials to install an end of season
trading period for off-contract players in a bid to eradicate what he described as
"the most disruptive thing that happens in the game."

Faced with the prospect of trying to re-sign more than a dozen players from his
25-man squad - including gun halves Jamie Soward and Ben Hornby - Bennett on Friday
hit out at the game's governing body for pandering to the interests of player
managers.
"It's not fair on the clubs, it's not fair on the individual and it's not fair on
the game," Bennett said.
"The fans suffer as a result of it because you've got players that are in the middle
of a season who are asked to be focused on their football in heavy negotiations with
maybe two or three clubs and their managers about their futures.
"It's still a mess from all clubs' point of view.
"It suits the other parties at the moment to do what they do, but it doesn't suit
the game and the game should be in charge of itself and that's why they should make
the change."
Currently players are allowed to talk to players from rival clubs at any time, but
are not allowed to register the contract with the NRL until after round 13 in the
final year of a player's existent deal.
That clause allows the player's current club a last right of reply up until round
13, a situation Bennett claims causes far too much chaos midway through the season
as he called for an AFL-style trading window after the grand final.
"They just get completely distracted and they lose their way," Bennett said.
"You're talking about a month, could be six weeks, could be an eight week period
sometimes.
"I've seen it, I watch players in other clubs and then all of a sudden in the middle
of it all he's moving to another club.
"Most of them handle it pretty well, but in that period of negotiations - until
that's all settled - you've got a player that's very unsettled.
"I spend half of my day when it's in the middle of the season, when it's starting to
happen, negotiating with players and managers and the club about salaries - I should
be concentrating on the coaching, they should be concentrating on playing their
football."
Bennett said he was hopeful that the realisation of an independent commission to run
the game would see a trading period introduced.
Previous attempts to limit the period of time players can negotiate with rival clubs
have been met by opposition from the players association, which feared an end of
season meat market would not allow its members enough time to negotiate and
relocate.
"That is absolute rubbish," Bennett said.
"We've seen players move within one week from one club to another.
"Look at Brett Finch last year - he was at Parramatta one week and was playing at
the Melbourne Storm two weeks later.
"When it suits them, they move overnight."
But new Rugby League Professionals Association chief executive David Garnsey said he
was open to the idea of a trading window, provided the timing was right.