Rugby league great Brad Fittler believes the five-day rounds in 2016 will cause the quality of games to drop as clubs consider player burnout.

“I think what you’ll find is the product will drop a little bit,” Fittler told sportsfan.com.au.

“As a coach now you’ve got to think about 26 rounds, not next week.

“That might see lesser teams being put out on the paddock, and the only people who suffer are the viewers.

“The viewer’s dictate how much the game means, so it’s one big circle.

‘The key out of all of this is that the players now have a position on the rules committee.”

Fittler added that he was glad to see clubs come out in defence of their players but admitted that all sixteen teams were in the same boat and were on an even playing field.

“It does over the length of a season, there’s no doubt about that. Come round 26, there’s no gripes,” he said.

“Everyone’s played the same amount of games in the same amount of time, so you’ve got to do your whinging now if you want to do some whinging.

“That’s the clubs’ responsibility. It’s their responsibility to fight for the players.”