Australian captain and RLPA president Cameron Smith wants the NRL season shortened to allow for more international rugby league.

“For me, that’s the simplest way to do it. But at the moment, we’ve got commitments to broadcasters and that’s fair enough,” Smith said.

“Does it mean that it may result in a fair bit of fatigue and burnout? Yeah it would because we play a lot of football games.

“At the moment the revenue that’s coming into our game is through a broadcast deal, which means we have to play a certain amount of games.

“And the players understand that, so we’re committed to fulfilling those commitments. But I agree, everyone needs to sit down and let’s be creative about our schedule.

“Let’s be smart about it so everyone benefits from our calendar.”