Should Super League season be extended?

Adrian Lam admits he would be keen to see if Super League look to extend the season following the decision to postpone the World Cup.
Wigan coach Adrian LamWigan coach Adrian Lam
Wigan coach Adrian Lam

With no international tournament this autumn, there is now the “option” to let the campaign run longer to allow all the clubs to catch up on the games cancelled or postponed due to Covid-19 issues.

Wigan are the only club to have played 18 matches so far – with Hull KR playing just 13 and St Helens and Hull FC 14 each, though one of Saints' wins was a forfeited game from Castleford.

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The table is again decided by win percentage which explains why Wigan, in fourth, are behind Warrington, despite the Wolves having one less win - as they have played three fewer matches.

Asked whether he would like to see the campaign extended, Lam said: “I think it’s an option for the powers-to-be to make a decision on it.

"We did it last year and nobody complained.

“I guess if they were to extend the competition to make sure teams have all played the same amount of games, I guess I would be interested to hear how that unfolds.”

Wigan’s extra workload saw them face a fresh St Helens side in July just four days after they’d played Warrington.

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“I’ve been quite vocal of the fact we’ve played all of the games, when you’ve teams ahead of us in the ladder, having played fewer games and won fewer games, it’s difficult to comprehend,” said Lam.

“We’ve played the extra games, there’s more chance of injury... Thomas Leuluai doing his hamstring last week was purely from overloading.

“We’ve just gone from a five day turnaround, to four, to five (and) we’ve been playing teams who have been coming in fresh.

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“I’m not whinging, I’m not complaining, it’s more the reality of where we’re at as a competition.”

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Lam, meanwhile, hopes to discover today the full extent of Leuluai’s hamstring injury.

But there are fears the Kiwi will miss the rest of the season, which would raise doubts about whether he plays again, given he has been considering retiring this year to take a coaching role at Wigan.

Lam said: “We’ll hopefully know on Monday but it doesn’t look good.”

Wigan head to Hull KR on Friday night for a televised match before welcoming St Helens the following week.