The NRL and the Rugby League Players' Association have created a committee to address welfare issues, with a view to easing the burden on players in time for the upcoming off-season.

The Player Workloads and Balance Working Group is jointly chaired by the NRL's head of football Brian Canavan and RLPA general chair and president Clint Newton, and also comprises former Penrith coach Ivan Cleary, Cronulla physical performance manager Andrew Gray, Kangaroos elite performance manager Troy Thompson, NRL chief medical officer Paul Bloomfield, NRL welfare and education manager Paul Heptonstall, Melbourne football director Frank Ponissi, NRL football integration and innovation general manager Luke Goodin and NRL football project manager Grant Lawler.

The working group reviewed workloads as per a mid-stream collective bargaining review struck between the NRL and the RLPA and focused on Christmas leave, training schedules and mandatory days off for personal and professional development.

The RLPA had negotiated for all players to receive an additional week of annual leave last year, bringing the tally to seven, in a move that helped avert a potential boycott of the 2015 Dally M awards. But under the new recommendations – which have been distributed to NRL clubs as part of the consultation process – some players will be entitled to more leave, while others will get less.

Under the proposal, junior NRL players – categorised as those who have completed their first, second or third pre-season, are entitled to six weeks. Intermediate players, classed as those who have done four or five pre-seasons, must have a minimum six weeks off. However, the club can grant them an additional fortnight off if they achieve their testing targets for measures such as aerobic capacity, strength benchmarks or body-fat readings.

The final category is comprised of senior players', those who have done the summer slog at NRL level on at least six occasions. Under the proposal, they are entitled to at least eight weeks off in a move the working group hopes will extend their on-field careers while also giving them an opportunity for their post-football ones.

Regardless of which category they fall in, no player can be made to begin their pre-season until November 1. However, players who aren't involved in finals football can still be expected to perform their contractual obligations – whether they be training, community work, promotional activities or the like – for the first two weeks of September.

The players are also set to earn an extra day off over the Christmas period, with the new minimum break now extended to 13 days.

The committee is hopeful that, by shortening the leave period for those players deemed to benefit most from a longer pre-season, it has demonstrated to the clubs they are prepared to compromise for the greater benefit of the playing group. The clubs have been given until Monday to provide their feedback with a view to ratifying the changes the following week, giving all parties time to make the necessary preparations for the upcoming pre-season.

It's expected the working group will continue to monitor workloads with a view to developing protocols for the following off-season, which will be one of the busiest in history due to the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. About 150 players will have RLWC commitments in a season that will effectively run for 10 months of the year, with the committee keen to ensure playing commitments remain manageable.