AS Saints prepare for their 30th and final league match of the season on Friday, coach Keiron Cunningham has urged a rethink on the number of games played at the top level.

Cunningham said that concerns about player welfare in other spheres of the game should be extended to matches played and urged the sport’s authorities to take a leaf out of Australia’s book.

Taking into account World Series, the Challenge Cup and play-offs successful teams could potentially have to play 37 games and then supply players to the autumn internationals.

England’s hopes of competing with Australia are handicapped by the contrast between the number of matches played on either side of the world, with the NRL playing just 24 regular games ahead of the play-offs.

Cunningham said: “Our benchmark as an international game is always about beating Australia.

“You cannot carry on doing what you are doing and expect to be competing on that standard.

“If you are bothered about internationals there has to be a bit of give.

“You can’t just keep dropping games in, a mid season international, the Magic weekend and the Super 8s format.

“If you are successful side – Hull, Warrington and even Wigan – who all made the Cup semis – and then they go through and reach the Super League play-offs that is a lot of games to be played.

“We talk about player welfare, well the biggest issue is the number of games.

“There has to be give and take somewhere.

“There are lots of people taking, but only certain individuals giving.”

Cunningham suggested that some of new England boss Wayne Bennett’s ideas for the country’s elite players ahead of the 2017 World Cup will cause club v country issues.

He said: “Wayne Bennett is suggesting taking my players for fitness sessions every other Wednesday. Well that is never going to happen.

“Now he is saying he wants to take my England players, however many that is, on a 10-day training camp in January.

“So where is the give?

“The sensible thing would be to reduce the number of games.

“If you look at the NRL there are byes in the programme every week as well as fewer games.

“They are going to have to get the money from somewhere else to alleviate the pressure on the players bodies because the game is getter quicker and faster and stronger.

“They talk about changing the rules, reducing interchanges and so on but they never talk about reducing the number of games.”

The Super League system was changed ahead of the 2015 season — with more league games added with the Super 8s but fewer play-off games.

The net difference, for the two finalists, is two extra league matches.

Cunningham added: “We used to start in March and run to September, now we begin in February and are running into the middle of October.

“The only time we get to educate the players and good physical training is in pre season.

“The Aussies have a three month pre-season, but we are lucky if we get a month.

“We always say we want to look at the NRL – they are the benchmark but we need to play fewer games.”