The rotation policy was an abject failure in Australian cricket, but a similar system is being floated in rugby league to manage player burnout.

With the Four Nations fast approaching, Kangaroos star Johnathan Thurston has renewed calls for the NRL to make its jam-packed schedule fairer on players.

Thurston will be one of the few senior stars left in an Australian squad heavily affected by injury, and believes the current calendar is proving too much to sustain.

One proposal put forward by the Rugby League Players Association to the NRL is not to reduce the number of fixtures, but to more actively manage the workload of players.

Thurston says there needs to be an appreciation at league headquarters that there are welfare concerns amongst players.

“I think the schedule is too much,” said Thurston.

“But it’s what we’ve got and the RLPA are doing their best to reduce the amount of games.

“It needs to be both ways.”

The issue of player burnout has become an annual debate around this time, when internationals are added onto the end of a long club and State of Origin season.

New Zealand on Tuesday left Roosters duo Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Jared Wearea-Hargreaves out of their squad for the tournament, specifically citing burnout.

The RLPA had an extensive meeting with NRL powerbrokers earlier this year on issues of player burn-out and the negotiation process remains ongoing.

According to an RLPA spokesperson, there’s a number of proposals on the table, including resting players from certain matches who have endured a particularly heavy workload.

For example, a star like Thurston who has played a full season including finals, plus three State of Origin matches, may be given a break from the post-season internationals to avoid burning out.

There’s no simple solution, but seasoned representative players have been crying out for the issue to be properly addressed for years, particularly as the game has become faster and more physically taxing.

Australian coach Tim Sheens will be missing a host of stars including Billy Slater and Paul Gallen when the Kangaroos team is named next week.

However, Thurston admits there’s a silver lining to the rare mass changes in personnel.

“We’ve got great depth of talent, whoever comes in we’ve got full confidence they’ll do the job,” he said.

“There’s a standard the boys have set before us and we’re continuing that standard.

“The new boys that come in they’ll see that standard and rise to the challenge so it’ll be good for us old blokes to see some fresh faces.”