Transfer system rules need changing

NRL CEO Dave Smith. Photo / Getty Images

NRL boss Dave Smith is on the right track but it is not just the transfer rules that need changing.

A change to the player transfer system is an important first step, but there also needs to be a change in mindset among the players.

It feels like there are too many out clauses. A player feels homesick, or he doesn't like a club or the environment and then he wants to leave.

That's just not real life. The message has to be "Hard luck guys - you are getting paid very well to do a job you love and if you are not feeling comfortable - too bad" . Get through it. If they have to tough it out for a year or two, too bad. If there are health issues with a family member, then fair enough; that has got to be the No1 priority above all others. But all of the other reasons we hear don't really wash.

When I first moved to Sydney I was incredibly homesick and really struggled. But I got through it and that was probably the making of me.

And Smith needs to proceed with getting rid of the June 30 deadline for registering contracts. Once you sign a contract and agree terms - that's that.

In no other job do you have months and months to change your mind. The existing system doesn't work for the fans or the clubs. Think of the Titans and their fans; so jubilant when they had secured the services of Daly Cherry-Evans but now they have to wait to see if it actually happens.

Meanwhile, the Warriors hierarchy need to be careful with their handling of the error plague that is affecting the club. Sure, it's a huge issue and one that has cost them at least two games this year. Mistakes are continually happening, often at pivotal times and by both experienced players and the green horns. But you can't afford to over-focus on the issue.

The more you focus on it, players will start to feel pressure and get a little edgy. They will be thinking "whatever happens I can't make a mistake now". That tends to lead to errors but also creates anxiety when heads need to be clear. Warriors coach Andrew McFadden has a crucial role in this; whatever pressure he is feeling, he can't transfer that to the players.

It happened at the Roosters in the late 1990s. Coach Phil Gould was coming under pressure from Roosters' owner Nick Politis and we felt that in the dressing room, at training, in the team environment. Next thing we started dropping the ball and making mistakes and it was hard to get out of that spiral. It's a complicated scenario.