THE return of Paul Broadbent to the playing arena provided York City Knights with a massive boost last week, albeit amid the disappointment of defeat.

The former Great Britain prop admitted he needed games to get back into the swing of things but nevertheless he showed in patches that all the old class was still there.

The addition of another fully fit front-rower to the squad is also very welcome, especially at a time when many pundits would argue that props are now more important due to the new substitute rules in place this domestic season.

Under the new guidelines, teams can now make up to 12 substitutions or re-substitutions at any time in a game (more than previously), and there has been criticism that this would favour teams with big powerful forwards, who could continually recharge batteries on the bench and therefore not be as susceptible to the smaller, quicker players as they would otherwise be.

Nonetheless, Broadbent himself did not think the rule change makes a big difference.

"I don't see it being too much of an issue and I don't really think it's something that is of much detriment to how we're playing or what we're trying to do," he said.

"You've just got to go with what you get. We've got 12 substitutions and it means you've got a little bit more freedom when you're making the changes.

"It does to a certain degree take away the conditioning element," said Broadbent. "If you get a player who's unfit who would be a weakness in a defensive line when they're getting tired, you've now got the luxury to give them ten minutes to recoup.

"But everyone has got to work with it and I don't see it as a major drama. I don't think it's giving anyone a particular edge. I don't think it's making a major difference."

Updated: 11:23 Saturday, March 01, 2003