What can be done about players pulling out with "injuries"

[adamkungl]

As per title.

Year in year out players who were happy to keep playing club with their supposed injuries pull out of rep fixtures.

Is there anything that can be done? Suspension threats are a proven toothless tiger. I'd prefer the carrot rather than the stick, anyway.
Aside from $$$$ what would make these games more appealing to play in?

 

[Burns]

Maybe it's more the club then the players? Clubs putting pressure on the players not to declare they are available against what the player may want to do.
Who would, in their right mind reject playing for their country, likely travelling the world etc?

 

[adamkungl]

Maybe it's more the club then the players? Clubs putting pressure on the players not to declare they are available against what the player may want to do.
Who would, in their right mind reject playing for their country, likely travelling the world etc?

That definitely happens yeah, especially with certain coaches.

 

[deluded pom?]

What really annoys me with the coach pressure situation is these coaches are usually former internationals themselves. Why would they want to deny others the opportunity to represent their country, regardless of which country it is?

 

[myrrh ken]

hmm I wonder if this will be a more frequent problem, now that the rules are opened up.They can't now hide behind the fact that they wanted to wait for tier 1 selection.

Although it is likely to be the clubs, I wonder whether the players themselves also choose not to play.

 

[Storm13]

A one off test match at the end of the year will do nothing to fix the issue. It works mid season as you have Aus vs NZ along side it.

Maybe if the mid seasons games meant something more and the results accumulated into a end of year tournament where there was two matches plus a final played you might see the players stick around.

 

[expansionist]

Yep - my take on this is it depends on the cause of the player pulling out.

If the player genuinely doesnt want to or couldnt be bothered then Id say theyre better off without that player anyway.

Its the case of club pressure being applied to players to make them withdraw that really needs to be addressed. National bodies or representative bodies need to be more forceful here though too i think - Id love to see a Samoa team doctor for example make the call not the players club.