OPINION: The international mid-year test between New Zealand and England in Denver at the Mile High Stadium is going ahead amid mixed feelings.
Even if you're all for the growth of the game internationally, you have to question whether this is the right time or place to stage it.
The 24,000km trip is a big haul for players in the middle of an already demanding season - and let's not forget the altitude, which none of these players would have experienced before.
Denver is 1609m above sea level, while Mt Smart is 79m and Sydney is between 80-180m above sea level.
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On top of that, St George Illawarra's James Graham and Gareth Widdop, will arrive back from Denver just two days before their club's match against Parramatta on Thursday, June 28.
The Warriors, who could have up to eight players involved, face the Gold Coast Titans on Friday, June 29. In total, 23 NRL players featured in the first-choice sides of England and New Zealand at last year's World Cup.
"We support international rugby league, but we have real concerns around the travel arrangements and we have real concerns about the timing of the year," Warriors CEO Cameron George said.
"We play Cowboys on the Friday night [before] and there couldn't be a worse team to travel to in the NRL. Then to have to back up and travel to Denver, through Los Angeles and another trip, we've really got to evaluate everything."
He is 100 percent correct.
There is a real risk that players may suffer from altitude sickness or fatigue. Sporting teams across a variety of codes struggle playing in Denver and visiting players complain about having no energy – they’re just not used to it.
Yes, there is a small window in the NRL schedule for the stand-alone test, coinciding with State of Origin, but that short turnaround is worrying.
The unusual environment, the long flight home and the turnaround raise serious player welfare issues. The combination of those three factors may lead to injuries, which was a strong argument against the NRL Nines.
We often see players back up 48 hours after an Origin clash, but this is a new beast - Origin players don’t have to travel long hours to return home.
Despite all this, New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) officials are confident NRL clubs will support the decision and release players for the test.
If they don’t, players could face a one-game suspension, but there are undoubtedly alternatives that could be explored, so everybody wins.
The Kiwis could have played Tonga in Denver on their way to England in October. The game would clash with the American NFL season, but it’s still an option.
If you really want to promote rugby league in the US, why not have a World Club Challenge match there in February, before the Super League and NRL seasons?
The third option is playing the June game in Los Angeles. it doesn’t stop the long travel, but it is roughly midway between Auckland/Sydney and London, and you can take a direct flight there, as opposed to having a couple of stops.
Plus Los Angeles is 87m above sea level, so it takes out the altitude factor.
The growth of international rugby league is essential, especially with the 2025 World Cup already allocated to North America in seven years' time.
The people behind the scheduling of this test should have done a better job - but money talks at the end of the day.
Ben Francis is a Newshub online sports producer.
