The brave new format of 2012 that saw an extended Super Rugby competition take a three-week break for the June test window has not been endorsed by the senior All Blacks.
The New Zealand Rugby Players' Association is monitoring the situation and working out strategies to push for either structural change or mechanisms by which workloads can be better managed.
This season, particularly the last quarter of Super Rugby, was excessively demanding of the players because it forced them into an almost 10-week block of intense back-to-back games.
The overall workload during the season is not so much the issue for the senior All Blacks - most say they can handle being on duty in mid-February and signing off in late November. The bigger problem is the volume of intense games played in a condensed period.
That is when mental and physical fatigue become serious concerns.
"I think now, the Super Rugby calendar and All Black calendar combined, I wouldn't want to be playing too many more games," Conrad Smith said. "I have played 26 games this year and I think the right number would be a little less than that ... Playing every game of Super Rugby didn't help. All players struggle through the year - I don't think you see a player that plays his best all the way through the 10 months that we currently play."
The impact of the long season was felt in Cardiff last week when the All Blacks felt they ran out of gas in the final 10 minutes.
Maybe that was not surprising, as several All Blacks were playing their 28th or 29th game since late February. Players such as Owen Franks, Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Liam Messam, Kieran Read and Israel Dagg have played almost every week since the season began, getting time off only in bye weeks and the one-week gaps between each of the four rounds in the Rugby Championship.
Ideally, the senior players would like to finish Super Rugby before embarking on All Black duty, much like they have done in the past. The killer for them this year was having to play three tests and then return immediately to the business end of Super Rugby and then the playoffs.
The problem is Sanzar has locked into a five-year broadcast deal under the current structure. It would require considerable reorganisation and, potentially, cut Sanzar's income if the current agreement were amended before the broadcast deal expired.
But at the same time there are genuine concerns that without a more forgiving season structure, there will be a bigger price to pay in damaging players' welfare.
"I think player welfare is the biggest issue we have in the game globally. It is a huge concern for the game," All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said.
"Your top players are the guys who are getting thrashed, both internationally and at club level.
"What we will probably see more of is those people taking sabbaticals unless the IRB show some leadership in this area and sort out a global season."
By Gregor Paul.
