ONE of the biggest complaints from fans of a certain generation about modern-day rugby league is the game has become too structured and robotic at the expense of skill.

They will, therefore, be no doubt be pleased to hear David Cairns wants to encourage Furness Raiders’ up-and-coming players to think for themselves in games rather than just rigidly adhere to a certain gameplan.

As a dynamic and skilful half-back during his playing days, it is perhaps little surprise Furness head coach Cairns wants the under-19s to develop their game intelligence as well as focus on physical development.

And while he emphasised the importance of having a solid team structure to build on, Cairns is trying to encourage the team to play what it in front of them too.

“I say to them all the time, it’s nice to have structure for a certain percentage of the game, but it’s a luxury to have players who can play what they see,” said Cairns. “Anyone can play structure, but playing rugby is a different thing.

“I watch Super League and the NRL, you can see they don’t always play to structure. They play what they see, things open up and you open up gaps by running angles and all sorts of things, and I want them to learn that.

“I want them to develop their brains as well as their bodies. You can’t just have a load of big lads who can run 100 miles per hour and tackle everything, you want them to develop their brains and know how to play.

“If you’re up against a strong team, you have to go back to structure a lot of the time because it’s all about percentages, position on the field and getting to your kicks - but those are things we talk about anyway.”

Furness, who host Warrington Wolves’ Priestley College side at Craven Park this afternoon in the College Rugby League Premier Division, are following the same structures Barrow head coach Paul Crarey utilises with the senior team.

Cairns has taken a mostly hands-off approach when running structure in training, preferring to let the senior players organise the team as they would in a game, and is pleased with how quickly the squad have picked up what is being asked of them.

“If you put them into a bit of structure, they soon adapt and young lads are good at picking that up,” said Cairns.

“One or two of them on Monday night hadn’t played for the past two or three weeks, but they still pick it up.

“Sometimes we have to stop it and walk through it, and then they start picking it up. It’s all about learning and it’s learning about the players for me as well.”