Million Pound Game: Hull KR full-back Ben Cockayne calls concept "a disgrace"

Ben Cockayne has scored four tries in 24 games for Hull KR this season

Hull KR full-back Ben Cockayne says the Million Pound Game is "a disgrace" which hurts the Rugby Football League's efforts to promote good mental health.

Rovers play Salford on Saturday as both teams attempt to retain their Super League status for 2017.

Players on the losing side will automatically have their Super League contracts voided after the game.

"On Sunday there will be a group of people without a job, that's the top and bottom of it," Cockayne, 33, said.

"At the end of the game there's nothing to celebrate because, if you're on the winning side, you're faced with a bunch of people that you respect who you play a tough sport against numerous times a season who will be out of a job.

"Or if you're on the losing side, you're out of a job yourself."

Then-Bradford Bulls head coach James Lowes threatened to quit rugby league after losing the inaugural Million Pound Game in 2015, while Wakefield players also expressed concerns about contracts in the build-up.

Cockayne continued: "We're not on footballers' wages where we can pay a mortgage off in a couple of weeks.

"We're talking about promoting mental health in our game but this does nothing for that.

"There'll be some lucky enough to keep their jobs and their salaries, and a group of people who will either lose it, or get their salary chopped or see their family in all sorts of trouble."