The game has no interest in helping itself or creating a strategy that attempts to aide the national side. Shiny LED screens and buying likes and followers on social media gets you IMG points yet academies and bringing through players that become mainstays in the competition gets you nothing. It's a system that undoubtedly works as we've seen across a number of clubs, who have shown improvements on and/or off the field, though I think we're looking at measuring these clubs in the wrong areas at present. We can manipulate the criteria and I hope that, in time, we do but for now, we've got a league structure and a set of criteria that isn't really that beneficial to anybody. I think we're manipulating the IMG criteria to get London Broncos in Super League eventually, given the shift to onfield results counting for more from 2026. I don't hate that for a few reasons, some selfish, but London are doing good things with the move to the training ground, the rebrand looks modern and they're putting money into the onfield product whilst working with some big names in Reebok and Cash Converters.
I would go very bold and people would hate it but I would give out so few points for onfield results through IMG. Anyone can build a team, we've seen it plenty of times (Toronto, Cas in 17, Huddersfield's LLS winning side, Salford between 2019-24, Catalans 21-23, Bradford of the 90's) but very few can build a club. The likes of Wigan, Saints and Leeds were lightyears ahead of the rest but Hull KR have started investing in more than just the playing squad, and it's beginning to pay off, Warrington have began shifting away from blowing their beans on overpaid and underperforming marquee signings and have really invested in their academy and their commercial offerings and that's what we need more off.
1. Reduce the Quota allowance back to 7 from 10 for the 2029 Super League season - Many players who fall under the quota rules in Super League are likely to be contracted between 1-3 seasons, we can't just cut the quota allowance in under a year, I think we need to give it a couple of seasons so that players naturally come to the end of their contracts and clubs can prepare and make plans for their recruitment and retention in good time.
2. Get the IMG criteria to give out points for Academies - Player pools and player production is vital and we don't incentivise clubs to not just have an academy but to produce an Academy that is fruitful for their own club and wider, for Super League as a whole. Give out points for having an academy, give out points to clubs if they hit significant appearance numbers for their club (50, 100, 150, 200+), give clubs points for how many players that have come through their academy are playing elsewhere, give clubs points for their academy graduates hitting appearance numbers for England. Points should be given out for how clubs create and implement pathways with community clubs and their reach.
3. Fewer Super League games - I've been a huge advocate of this for some time and I haven't changed my mind on it. 22 games is the max we should play. Make sure we keep home and away derbies and make sure nobody plays each other more than twice in a regular season and then work out the rest however you want.
4. Have a two-week mid-season break that incorporates England playing a Southern Hemisphere Nation - Do it around State of Origin and get England playing in the southern hemisphere or in the Middle East against an New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, PNG. It resets the season, get some rest into weary bodies and England get a proper game.
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