RUGBY LEAGUE
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Dragons workhorse Jack de Belin has a backed a push for a reduction in the interchange, saying the game risks churning out more "robots" if the drastic change isn't made.
It comes as the NRL considers cutting the number of interchanges allowed per game from 10 to eight or even six.
Having trimmed down to 102 kilograms this season, de Belin is averaging 60 minutes per game for the Dragons and has made a whopping 169 tackles in the first four rounds of the competition.
A reduction in the interchange would play into his hands but the durable 24-year-old said the change would have a positive impact on the game as a whole.
"Players these days are a little bit like robots," de Belin said.
"It's a game that really doesn't suit the little guy at the moment, it's more of a big man's game in the middle as you can see by the teams that have been successful. All we have to do is hit the ball up and tackle.
"There's not as much passing or offloads because we've become so accustomed to just taking the ball forward getting to our points and getting to the kick.
"I think it will suit the overall game once there's a bit more fatigue, we can ball play a bit more and play off the cuff.
"The game does need to change a little bit to accommodate the faster, quicker guys who can start playing their game when fatigue sets in."
De Belin said it would certainly suit his own game.
"When I saw the first article on that I was so happy," he said.
"It suits my game a 100 per cent. On the weekend I played 60 minutes straight ... I feel like I could play 80 most weeks so to be able to do that, lessen the interchange and get a few more tired lads out there would definitely suit my game."
The Dragons secured their second win of the season against Manly on the back of their big men and Saturday's match with an undefeated Newcastle is shaping as another war of attrition.
"It was one of our focal points against Manly to tighten up our middle and get a bit of whack and dominate their forward pack and I think we did that," de Belin said.