I never thought I would hear myself complaining about too much rugby league.

But it's time the NRL seriously considers overhauling its draw.

Any competition that has 16 clubs playing over 26 rounds can't possibly be fair.

Some clubs play each other twice, others only once.

How can that produce a level playing field?

You would rather play the Titans or Eels twice than the Roosters or Rabbitohs, surely.

Luckily for the NRL there's a simple solution to this problem.

Obviously cutting the draw from 26 to 15 rounds would be a bit drastic, and playing 30 rounds would be overkill.

Why not introduce two new clubs into the competition and make it a 17-round season, allowing for a couple of general bye weekends or stand-alone representative fixtures?

Every club would play the other 17 clubs once during the regular season, then the top eight would play finals.

The draw these days just seems to drag on a bit for my liking.

We could start the season in April, or late March, and keep the finals where they are now.

I know the NRL is driven by broadcast deals and the big television companies wouldn't be in favour of cutting down the number of games per year.

But sometimes the people in charge need to make decisions based on what's best for the game and its players.

If you flog the sport to death people are going to lose interest.

Make the season shorter, more exciting.

New Zealand is surely ready to host a second NRL club now.

There were two games held across the ditch last weekend and both went off without a hitch.

The 18th team could be based anywhere else - Sydney, Victoria, maybe Queensland.

Either way, I think its time the NRL took the plunge and shortened the calendar.

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WHO would want to be an NRL coach?

It's a hard, often cruel business to be in.

Geoff Toovey and Rick Stone felt the axe swing in the space of a couple of days.

Both sackings were fairly harsh in my opinion.

Toovey is a club legend, has been very successful over the past four years and wasn't allowed complete control of his playing roster.

The Sea Eagles let two international players go last year and it wasn't Toovey's fault.

Stone was barely given a chance to show what he could do with Newcastle.

He was in the job less than 12 months before they tapped him on the shoulder.

Knights fans were all happy to cheer on the "local" product early in the year, but the cheering stopped as soon as they started losing games.

It goes to show coaching is one of the most ruthless businesses around.

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I NURSED Mitchell Pearce in my arms when he was two days old.

I was, and still am, good mates with his father Wayne and I've been lucky enough to watch Mitch grow into one of the game's best players.

It is just incredible to think he will run out for his 200th NRL game this weekend.

It doesn't seem that long ago I was holding that newborn baby.

It's a credit to his endurance, toughness and dedication to the game.

He's just like his father, a great leader of men. I look forward to seeing him keep growing throughout his career.