OF the three changes The RFL Board has approved to the Laws to apply for the 2022, the one on stoppages for injured players is one that will be cheered by Saints boss Kristian Woolf.

2022 will see the return of scrums, the reversion of the ball steal rule to the 2020 position and a requirement for injured players to be removed from the field of play for treatment.

Within the statement from the RFL, it noted: “ It is becoming increasingly noticeable that at key times in games, players are being treated on field for injury and the referee has no option but to stop the game.

“This has resulted in complaint from coaches, increased length of games and frustration from media and fans that the flow of the game is disrupted.

“The Board has therefore accepted a Laws Committee recommendation to adopt the NRL policy relating to injury stoppages.

“This will ensure the effective treatment of players remains a priority without encouraging gamesmanship whilst retaining an entertaining spectacle.”

This is an issue Woolf raised in June after the home defeat by Warrington which had left them frustrated a number of times when in good attacking positions.

Although the player in question was not interfering with play and it was not a head knock, the referee is bound to stop play as soon as the doctor and trainer entered the fray.

Back then Woolf put forward a solution from the NRL to stop it from unsettling the flow of the attack and prevent the defensive team an unearned chance to recover.

In June he said: “If the game is stopped for a player to receive on-field treatment and your trainer or doctor has to take the field, then that player has to leave the field of play for at least two minutes to get that treatment.

“If there is treatment to the head they have to leave the field for a head assessment.

“Knowing that even if it is only for one set you are going to lose a player, it makes players and coaches think about what they are doing there in stopping the game.

“Or if it is going down with a so-called head injury then that player is going to have to leave the field. That becomes a difficulty you have to overcome.”

Woolf will no doubt be happy that those changes will be coming into force next year.