The NRL has made a landmark decision, reportedly putting a limit on the amount of contact during pre-season and training sessions.

According to the ABC, all 17 NRL and 12 NRLW clubs were informed of the decision with rugby league powerbrokers hoping to reduce the occurrence of concussions and other injuries.

Head knocks and brain injuries have been a focal point for the NRL over the past decade, with HIA rulings being introduced as well as the mandatory 11-day stand-down period.

Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

Under the new guidelines, NRL players will be allowed to participate in up to 100 minutes of contact training when they have a seven-day turnaround between games.

NRLW clubs, meanwhile, can undertake 85 minutes of contact training when teams have a seven-day turnaround.

That figure drops significantly when teams have a fix or six-day turnaround, with caps being implemented allowing only 40 or 50 minutes of contact training.

Jonah Pezet of the Eels comes from the field after a head knock.Source: Getty Images

Meanwhile, in pre-season, NRL clubs can do contact training for a maximum of 200 minutes per-week and only 115 minutes for NRLW players.

According to the report, the NRL has also outlined that clubs should:

– Limit total contact training to no more than 200 minutes per week post-Christmas (inclusive of wrestling training).

– Avoid high-intensity contact training on consecutive days.

– Schedule no more than three consecutive days of contact training without a recovery day.

Clubs were also informed by the NRL “the contact rules are intended to be iterative while the research is ongoing and data from the 2026 season will be used to inform contact training rules for the 2027 season”.

Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!

Cowboys yet to re-sign Payten for 27 | 02:19

MORE NRL NEWS

BURNING Qs: Dominoes to fall after Flanno axing; ugly recruitment truth laid bare

TEAMS: Flanagan dumped as Dragons boss swings axe; another Bronco hurt

CONTENDERS: Why obvious choice isn’t a lock for the job

It is important to note that wrestling counts as a contact activity and therefore towards the total during the week’s training.

To police the new guidelines, clubs will be forced to log their contact sessions and how long they went for, with veteran halfback Adam Reynolds supporting the move.

“Players are the main product of the game and you want to protect those assets as much as possible,” Reynolds said to AAP.

“I know what I signed up for. There’s accidents that are a part of any sport, not just rugby league.”

The NRL’s move follows the NFL, who introduced contact limits in 2011 as well as World Rugby, who restrict full-contract training to a maximum of 15 minutes each week.