Last updated at 11:51, Friday, 06 July 2012

Don Gailer has called for a radical change in the stop-start fixture list to avoid frustrating summer lay-offs for lower league clubs.

Don Gailer

The Whitehaven coach is unhappy that his team had only two matches last month and in July will play only three times, with 18 days between their last game against Oldham and their next at Barrow.

“Over the last five or six weeks, the broken nature of the competition has been terrible,” he said. “At this time of year you want to be playing footy, but we’ve been playing one week and not the next.

“I don’t think anyone is happy with the stop-start nature. You would struggle to find any player who wants a week off. They train so they can play. The structure has to change.”

The Aussie would like to see the season start with the Rugby League 9s, won last month by Cumbria, followed by the Northern Rail Cup played to a finish before the league season starts. He does not want to tinker with the Challenge Cup.

The fixture plight is most acute for Championship One clubs who are more likely to be sidelined over summer when the Northern Rail Cup quarters, semis and final are played.

Gailer feels Haven had hit their best form of the campaign, so is particularly frustrated at the break in fixtures.

First published at 11:27, Friday, 06 July 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk