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Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett says any move by players to ban five-day turnarounds between matches would be hypocritical.
Bennett's comments came after Storm coach Craig Bellamy slammed the NRL for scheduling three games in 11 days for his side heading into the finals, saying he had never seen a more exhausted team.
Storm captain Cameron Smith also said the players had approached the Rugby League Players' Association with a view to following the AFL's lead of banning five-day turnarounds.
Bennett said any move would create a double standard, given players sometimes return to club football just two days after an Origin match.
"Players are being hypocritical too because we're going through Origin and we go back in two days and play," he said.
"(They're) the toughest games they play and they back up in two days. So, if they want to be fair dinkum across the board, they'll make changes there as well and that's not going to happen.
"I hate double standards and that's what we're talking about here."
Bennett said it was difficult to balance player interests with needing to please broadcasters, who pay hundreds of millions of dollars for the rights to show games and have a major say over much of the scheduling.
"It's difficult because on one hand everyone wants so much money and on the other hand we want all these rights," he said.
"We want six weeks off here and we want something else off there and we want something else off there.
"They're (short turnarounds) challenging for us all but we all get our share of them."
Bennett said the reliance of the game on broadcast money meant the high-profile and successful teams needed to be playing to peak audiences.
"If you can't get five day turnarounds then you're not going to get the best games on television and prime times," he said.
"That's your challenge and that's the issue.
"We've got the bottom half of the draw right now playing on Friday night or Thursday night tonight then the viewers aren't watching it – the next time they go to the rights to sell them they're not going to get the income.
"It's a balancing act. There's a lot more demands coming from the players and they're getting more than they've ever gotten.
"We have to be careful with it."
Broncos captain Justin Hodges took a similar view to Bennett but admitted it's not something he's going to have to worry about in a couple of weeks, with retirement looming.
"As players, you've got to accept it," he said.
"I'm one fo the oldest players running around but it doesn't matter if you play in three or four days' time.
"You make sure you're ready, that's what the job requires. It depends on your character. For me, it's easy to get up for a game and I don't want to let my mates down."
Both sides will have at least a week until opening their finals campaigns, with the Broncos set to face the Cowboys at Suncorp on either Friday or Saturday night.
The winner of Sunday's Sharks-Sea Eagles clash will determine whether the Storm will travel to Sydney for a qualifying final against the Roosters or host the Dragons in a sudden-death match.
