It's a well worn phrase usually said in jest due to the game's uncanny knack of finding inventive and peculiar ways to run into drama.

But Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter Vlandys only has himself to blame for some of the hurdles facing the game as the NRL works its way toward a planned May 28 restart.

Credit where it's due. Vlandys has done a super job negotiating many roadblocks as rugby league looks to become the first professional sport in the world to return from the coronavirus hiatus.

But it's almost like he looked down a 100m track, decided the ten hurdles weren't a big enough challenge and threw a few more in there for good measure.

News that the referee's union will go on strike after Vlandys decided virtually single-handedly, without official consultation, that games will revert to a one referee system is little shock.

It's especially bewildering when you consider a consultation group featuring leading players and coaches unanimously wanted to retain the same set of rules which existed in the opening two rounds before the competition was shut down.

What's the point of having one if their opinions are going to be blatantly ignored? And is the game going so poorly financially that it's necessary to alter the fabric of the game by cutting referees, and only saving a reported $500,000?

Vlandys said feedback from fans in a survey was a major factor in making the change.

Coaching legend Wayne Bennett nailed it best when he said that "when you start listening to the fans, you'll soon be sitting with them."

Look, I know it's a stretch. But I'm going to put this hot take out there that the opinion of a consultation committee including premiership coaches Michael Maguire and Trent Robinson, and star players Daly Cherry-Evans, Wade Graham, Cooper Cronk and Blake Green, should probably be taken more seriously than the largely baseless opinions of fans on Facebook.

While it is yet to be confirmed, the suggestion which is most troubling for the future of the game in the Riverina is the reduction of development officers employed by the NRL.

The locally-based NRL development officers are currently stood down, like the majority of the company's staff, but haven't been sacked.

But reducing their presence will have negative long-term ramifications that simply aren't worth the short term gain financially.

Put simply, the NRL has to play the long game on this issue, otherwise it will be easy prey for the AFL.

Unlike most NSW centres, rugby league can't rely on an ingrained cultural monopoly to carry it through in the Riverina, where Aussie Rules has a comparable presence.

The Canberra Raiders are gradually building a strong presence in the region after staging a regular season game in Wagga last year, and will do so again next season.

They have established academies to help develop junior talent and have declared their desire for an under-20s Riverina team bearing the Raiders name to eventually be established.

Their recruitment manager Peter Mulholland admitted he was surprised by how many Aussie Rules goal posts he drove past on a visit here last year, and it rammed home how big the fight is between the codes for the region's best young talent.

Less development officers means reduced chances to spot some rough diamonds and polish them into solid NRL players, which will lessen the overall quality of the competition.

And don't get me started on the 'six again' rule, particularly given I'm a Raiders fan and the mere mention of those words elicits haunting flashbacks to last year's grand final debacle.

The rule, which allows referees to wave 'six again' after a ruck infringement instead of a penalty, has massive flaws.

What will players be directed to do if they're up by one or two points in the dying stages of the game, and their opponents have the ball?

You don't need to have a Cronk-esque football brain to work it out.

READ MORE