Former England dual international Barrie-Jon Mather believes the reduction in the interchange could make Sam Burgess an even more potent force in his return to South Sydney.
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Burgess rejoined the Rabbitohs after his stint with English rugby club Bath lasted just 12 months.
The 26-year-old received a warm reception on arrival in Australia, in stark contrast to his treatment in his native England where he was made a scapegoat for the nation's disastrous World Cup campaign.
Rabbitohs memberships have skyrocketed since his return, while Burgess was spotted on Saturday driving down Coogee Bay Road in a blue Bentley, perhaps an indication of his ability to attract local corporate support.
Burgess left league in the best possible fashion, earning the Clive Churchill Medal after helping snap South Sydney's premiership. That he did so with a broken jaw, suffered in the opening hit up of the grand final, further etched his name into folklore. However, Mather, the first man to represent England in both rugby codes, believes his ability to play big minutes could make Burgess even more effective when the interchange drops from 10 to eight next year.
"With the interchange rule and the number of minutes he's able to play, he will be coming up against a lot of tired people," Mather said..
"Hopefully he has the right players around him and that should increase the impact he has."
Mather, the NSWRL's general manager of football, believes Burgess' rugby transition was horribly mismanaged at club and national level.
"He hasn't been helped by anybody, not by the England set-up or by Bath," Mather said.
"He was really shabbily treated, he has been slammed by everybody. He's a kid that went over there to try to learn the game and he has been asked by his club to try to learn three different positions and then play at international level by his country in a completely different one. How do you expect anyone to be successful?
"It's amazing he played as well as he did, it shows how good a player he actually is."
England rugby coach Stuart Lancaster was sacked amid the Burgess fallout, while Bath mentor Mike Ford claimed the Dewsbury product "didn't have the stomach" to be a success in the 15-man game.
"Fordy would have been trying to deflect a bit of attention off him, his tactics and how he integrated Sam into the team," Mather said.
"He had 21 games at Bath and only seven of them were at blindside, where Fordy supposedly claimed he was going to be world class. He's not exactly educating him on the position either.
"The amount of scrutiny on him. My personal opinion, in the back row it would have taken him at least three years to feel comfortable.
"Bath invested all of this money in him - why didn't they take the time to teach him the game away from the spotlight. They needed to say 'Sam, you won't play in this World Cup but you will probably play in the next one.'
"They should have taken a long-term view instead of pushing him out there to try to get their money's worth straight away. It's backfired on them.
"There's a lot of jealousy in England, there's a guy coming into the sport on a lot of money and profile.. He'll be happy to be back and on the beach."
