There have been talks of boycotts and player welfare in the quest to remove five-day turnarounds between NRL games but Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson is more concerned with the lack of priority shown to Test football.
The issue is one the Warriors don't have to confront in 2016, but no other team has to factor in as many other travel requirements as the sole off-shore club, although Johnson thinks it misses the point of welfare complaints.
"I can understand some players wanting a longer turnaround but if they're calling about player burnout and that, put the Origin at the end of the year I say," Johnson said.
"It's mainly those Origin players that are speaking up about it. They want to scrap the Anzac Test and still call for player burnout when they're playing three origin games, probably the toughest games they'll play all year, I think there's other ways around it really."
State of Origin is a major money-spinner for the NRL and broadcasters Channel 9 while players earn upwards of $100,000 per series, far more lucrative than the mid-season Test which has been negotiated out of the broadcasting deal from 2018 in a bid to reduce the size of the rugby league calendar.
Australia also opted against playing any end of year Test matches this year.
"Couldn't really believe it when I heard they were scrapping about it, can't really see the thought behind it," Johnson said.
The 2014 Golden Boot winner's focus remains firmly on getting back to fitness however, and feels he's on track to recover from the horrific ankle injury that ended his year.
While pleased with his physical progress, Johnson is still conquering the mental side of such a comeback.
"Mainly just in my head, it has its days where it sort of feels good and bad but more often than not I'm able to go out and about without feeling any pain, I've just got to look after it.
"That probably won't go away until after I get tackled for the first time and get a bit of confidence with the ball in hand," Johnson said.
"That's all stuff I've got to get over if I want to play in the Nines [in February]."
Johnson hopes he's not the only Kiwi international returning to the field in 2016, throwing his support behind former teammate Russell Packer whose fate is in the hands of the Australian government.
After serving a year in prison for assault, Packer was given the green-light to revive his career with the Dragons next year after extensive counselling, but could yet face deportation.
"I'm not going to stand here and judge what he's done because everyone makes mistakes," Johnson said.
"I think he's done his time and has learned, everyone is well aware of his community work.
"It's always going to be a tricky situation and he understands that. From what I heard, and I've spoken to him about, he's just happy to be back around his family again.
"If he gets to play footy in the NRL again he'd take it with both hands but he's got his family back so he's pretty happy."
Watch the video to see the full interview.
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