14 Team SL and Merged Championship?

[Perth Red]

If loop fixtures are the problem, why have we had loop fixtures in some form for all but one Super League season and only had teams playing everyone at home and away only during 24 year period out of a potential 130? Could we be, as I suspect, looking in the wrong places for solutions to problems? Are we going to see a swell of income into the support in the next twelve months as a result of swapping formats? Are we going to see sponsors queueing to have their name on the competition?

Are we missing other problems and hoping they magically go away because Wigan don't play three league games next year against Huddersfield? I suspect we are. The salary cap, the increase in quota places, style of play from clubs, lack of expression and freedom to play anything other than robotic rugby, lack of sponsors and eyes on the sport are, IMO, greater issues than some teams playing some other teams three times.

Maybe, maybe not. One thing we can be pretty sure of is that if things hadnt changed we def wouldnt see those things we all want to see.
If you're asking do we think that a SL with 3 different clubs and quite possibly York, Toulouse, Bradford or London in the comp has a better chance of a stronger long term future, Id say yes definitely.
The big caveat is does any new club coming in have the money to do what the likes of Leigh, Wakey and HKR have done upon coming into SL. Hopefully the panel will determine that properly.

You might want to go watch soccer and union as RL clearly isnt for you anymore!
Theres been some absolute cracking games this year. Leigh v Wolves last week was a great game, Wakey v Leeds was a great game, HKR v Leeds was a great game and so it goes on. Like people who moan about movies these days its a question of your own chosen perspective. If you go into something planning not to enjoy it, guess what, you wont!

 

[Perth Red]

Interesting but he is talking some rhubarb when he says RL never had competitive tension for rights. Actually it did when BT Sport came along and there was massive rights inflation. He credits Wood for the £40m a year but it was literally just down to the Broadband War and both dumping a load more money into all rights at the time.

TBF he does acknowledge that the 40mill was due to competitive tension in that deal. His point is that there hasnt been any since that one off. Now why that is is the interesting question! Our best hope of a bigger deal for 2027 is DAZN put in a bid. What Sky has given us this deal is a chance to look at how feasible SL selling its own product direct to consumer is. They reckon there is 120k people subscribe to SKY sports primarily due to SL.

 

[Taking The Two]

Which is why we will have a panel (Wood not on it) that will review any applicants financial situation and their ability to be viable. My club went into administration not that many moons ago but you wouldn't now deny them a SL license based on what happened in the past.

Bradford have gone bust in the last ten years and have as recently as September 2024 (that’s not even many months ago, let alone moons) got the begging bowls out to fans to ask fans to keep them in the black. If people are championing Bradford’s inclusion based upon attendances from 25 years ago, it would be foolish to ignore their monetary problems 8 years ago and 11 months ago. Their finances over a sustained period should absolutely be reviewed (as they should for all clubs). This is rugby league though and nothing lasts for more than 3 years anyway so if Bradford have enough to last them till Easter, they’ll probably be in.

The panel is being selected by the former Bradford chairman and soon to be London CEO. If you cannot see why people think this process looks dodgy, I’m afraid that’s on you. I am yet to see anyone say “yeah, it’s great that teams 13 and 14 are having to meet completely different criteria to the other 12” or anything positive about who is selecting the panel.

Maybe, maybe not. One thing we can be pretty sure of is that if things hadnt changed we def wouldnt see those things we all want to see.
If you're asking do we think that a SL with 3 different clubs and quite possibly York, Toulouse, Bradford or London in the comp has a better chance of a stronger long term future, Id say yes definitely.
The big caveat is does any new club coming in have the money to do what the likes of Leigh, Wakey and HKR have done upon coming into SL. Hopefully the panel will determine that properly.

You might want to go watch soccer and union as RL clearly isnt for you anymore!
Theres been some absolute cracking games this year. Leigh v Wolves last week was a great game, Wakey v Leeds was a great game, HKR v Leeds was a great game and so it goes on. Like people who moan about movies these days its a question of your own chosen perspective. If you go into something planning not to enjoy it, guess what, you wont!

That’s a great politicians answer, that. Completely avoided the question, which has been based upon fact, with “maybe, maybe not”.

Interestingly nobody is asking that but that’s the narrative you’re pushing. Again. I m am yet to see an argument for the changes that goes beyond “yeah, but no loop games”. Having been around for long enough and having worked in London during London being in Super League and being promoted into Super League, as well as relegated out of Super League, there is no shift in attention towards them in the city and I haven’t seen quantifiable changes in terms of sponsors during the years that they have been in Super League unless there is a Mushy Pea Mansion somewhere in the City of London that is the nerve centre for pea mushing in the UK. I’m also not sure that the inclusions of York, Bradford, Oldham or Widnes does anything other than put a few more on their attendances, which is nice for them but isn’t exactly a swell of income to the sport across its income streams. Nostalgia will be great though if we get Bradford in, I wonder if they can get Shontayne Hape and Rob Parker out of retirement too?

The fact that one of the games biggest stakeholders, the fans, haven’t been consulted and many are not happy with this process, the return of former employees who were universally disliked and hounded out by the same people that a few years later brought him back, findings of this review led by a man that spends his Sunday evenings drunk and arguing with people on social media and can acknowledge that this whole criteria decision for some teams not others, led by two blokes who have skin in the game, looks unfair and a bit dodgy, says a lot about the sport. Ultimately, fans are the ones who buy merchandise and memberships, subscribe to broadcasters and have the decision to watch games live or watch Netflix and attend games and without any form of consultation from any club with their fanbase doesn’t really sit right with me.

That’s a little bit dictator-y, isn’t it? “Go and watch something else if you don’t fall in line” and only saying positive things is, at very best, a weird approach to take. Interestingly, nobody has said that there hasn’t been any quality games this season, there has, but it’s also fine to say that some things aren’t good. Blindly ignoring issue after issue is one of the reasons we are where we are in all honesty.

 

[Perth Red]

I get it youre a St's fans,. You've been gorged on success, the RL world now seems bleak becasue youre not doing very well for a change. Welcome to the rest of our realities most of the time!

Its not about 'falling in line' its about you not seeing any of the positives, of which there are plenty. there has been many cracking games this year, crowds are pretty good at most clubs, atmosphere at many stadiums is great, Wakey have delivered more than London did, and apart from the Salford fiasco its been a very good season.
ps since when have fans (or indeed customers of any business change in any sector) ever been consulted??

As for team 13&14 the panel has clearly been charged with making sure whoever comes up has the finances and business case in place to be viable. Hence why they arent just going off IMG grading for those two spots. Good luck to the 4 clubs who will be fighting for those two spots. May the best cases win.

 

[BODISGOD]

TBF he does acknowledge that the 40mill was due to competitive tension in that deal. His point is that there hasnt been any since that one off. Now why that is is the interesting question! Our best hope of a bigger deal for 2027 is DAZN put in a bid. What Sky has given us this deal is a chance to look at how feasible SL selling its own product direct to consumer is. They reckon there is 120k people subscribe to SKY sports primarily due to SL.

I did not pick that up. I just heard him crediting Wood for it.

I don't disagree with the D2C model myself. I think the money has gotten to the stage where it is at least to be discussed.

 

[Taking The Two]

I get it youre a St's fans,. You've been gorged on success, the RL world now seems bleak becasue youre not doing very well for a change. Welcome to the rest of our realities most of the time!

Its not about 'falling in line' its about you not seeing any of the positives, of which there are plenty. there has been many cracking games this year, crowds are pretty good at most clubs, atmosphere at many stadiums is great, Wakey have delivered more than London did, and apart from the Salford fiasco its been a very good season.
ps since when have fans (or indeed customers of any business change in any sector) ever been consulted??

As for team 13&14 the panel has clearly been charged with making sure whoever comes up has the finances and business case in place to be viable. Hence why they arent just going off IMG grading for those two spots. Good luck to the 4 clubs who will be fighting for those two spots. May the best cases win.

What on earth has that got to do with anything? Rugby League is bleak because it is bleak, I’m afraid. It was bleak when Saints wiped the floor with everyone for four years and it is now. Equally, now Hull KR aren’t cannon fodder, it doesn’t make the game great. The thing is, the game appears bleaker and we can point to small ‘wins’ but totally ignoring the actual big things that matter like the ever decreasing TV deal.

It is though, isn’t it? Any sign of any negative and it’s “yeah but no loop games” or “hey, look at a handful of quality games we’ve had this year” completely ignoring the negatives, criticisms of what is being brought in and the facts and completely refusing to acknowledge that there is a flip side to toeing the party line of a governance of Wood, off the back of a review (not been made public, I will add) led by Derek Beaumont.

I’m sorry to piss on your chips because you’re doing well but we have:

* Nigel Wood back in the game. A figure much maligned by pretty much all quarters in the sport

* We have decided to extend the top division to 14 teams, failing to work with Sky on this, the broadcaster of the sport, who either now have to find £500,000 to show something they don’t really want to show or the sport has to find that figure.

* Sport England are looking at their involvement and investment into the sport following the re-appointment of Nigel Wood.

* The NRL are said to have been less enamoured by Nigel Wood during his time at International Rugby League Federation and that is very likely to affect the relationship between Super League and NRL.

* We have Nigel Wood in, who genuinely reckons that 4,000 Leigh fans not only travelled to Catalans but then each spent £1,000 in France. Not only are his figures of the amount of Leigh fans travelling way off, his figures of what they spent is way off as it’s well known and publicised that most away fans stay in Spain in resort towns like Lloret De Mar and bus in to Perpignan on the day of the game. For each to have spent £1,000 in Perpignan, they’d have had to have a spend of somewhere between £200-250 an hour.

* We have identified loop fixtures as the evil of the game when we have had loop fixtures in some form for all but one Super League season and for about 25 years out of 130.

* Last time we went to 14 teams, we abandoned it pretty quickly because fans got bored with game after game of little to no meaning, teams finishing in the bottom half of the table being in with a chance of being Grand Final winners and a drop off in attendances at the end of the season for sides with nothing to play for. All of this lead to the thirst for “every minute matters” and the creation of the Super 8’s to try and grasp attention all year around.

* Considering the little money we have, we’ve taken IMG onboard, rightly or wrongly, spent six figures a year on them, thrown all of their advice to one side, done whatever we’ve felt like and continue to throw money down the drain at them to do very little now.

* We are creating a specific set of criteria for two sides to join the league, whilst using a different set of criteria for the existing 12. The criteria is being led by a former chairman of one club who think they should profit from this and a future CEO of another, who are appointing someone to make the ultimate decision, which has led to questions raised over the credibility of the whole process.

But hey, Leeds v KR, what a game.

 

[Perth Red]

Super League will expand to 14 teams in 2026: and clubs are already queuing up to state their case about why they should be in the mix.

It’s still possible that one of the Championship’s top four will find their way into the top-flight through the IMG gradings system, with Salford believed to be in real danger of dropping out and a number of teams closing in on their score.
But away from that, two more spots will open up via an independent panel. That panel will examine all aspects of a club – on the field and off it – before determining who makes the cut.

It’s likely some existing Super League clubs will have to go through that route too, if for nothing other than an insurance policy should they fail to make the top 12 with IMG.

But we’ve looked at the Championship’s top four – who all want in for 2026 – and examined the pros and cons of both.

York Knights​

The Knights are favourites for a number of reasons – with the club quietly confident they can push for the top 12 in the IMG gradings and take any independent panel out of their own equation.

The positives for York’s case? They are starting to build a Super League squad; the signing of Paul Vaughan underlines that. They’d likely be one of the more competitive teams who were coming up, though how competitive that is remains to be seen.

They represent positive expansion, with a new area for the game to tap into in North Yorkshire. They also appear to have financial backing and of course, they have an elite-standard facility in a location that would represent a real destination trip for Super League supporters on their travels.
They also have a thriving Women’s Super League team: which makes them an intriguing prospect when it comes to hosting double-headers that could captivate the attention and become events.

The concern? Their crowds, you could argue – though it’s unclear what promotion into Super League would do for York and the surrounding areas given how long it’s been since they were in rugby league’s top flight.

There’s also work to be done on the ground in York and North Yorkshire in terms of junior development. It’s started, and is picking up at pace, but York are definitely behind most Super League clubs in that regard.

Bradford Bulls​

Bradford are another club who have strong positives to consider. Across their whole organisation they are perhaps representative of a Super League club. They run teams in almost every discipline of the sport; men’s, women’s, PDRL and LDRL to name just a few. They are on the up in that regard.

Their academy is also strong, and is still providing players to this day who are Super League standard: Wakefield Trinity’s Jayden Myers is a recent example of that. Bradford also have a strong squad, and have the financial capability to potentially be a strong side if they were promoted.
Of course, the one real negative does not really need explaining too much: Odsal. While Bradford’s vocal supporters would tell you the stadium ticks all of the IMG boxes – and it does – they could surely not tell you with a straight face it was a Super League venue.

Bradford’s crowds are also on a par with York’s and while there is an expectation they would boom if they returned to Super League, that’s not a guarantee. It’s been so long since the Bulls were pulling in five-figure crowds in the top-flight, it’s not automatic that all those lapsed supporters return.

But Bradford as a club, and an area, clearly has potential to be a Super League team.

Toulouse Olympique​

The merits of Toulouse are certainly different to the other English teams pushing for Super League – and that makes them a very unique case.
The prospect of a French derby in Super League is incredibly exciting, and could have commercial and financial implications if done right and over a prolonged period of time.

Toulouse also bring expansion on their side, and the prospect of more French players being exposed to elite-level rugby league can surely only be good for the international aspect of the sport.

The primary concern for Toulouse comes from the boardrooms of Super League. Some owners believe they do not bring anything in terms of adding value on the existing broadcast deal, with the French clubs still not delivering their own deal in their own right, too.

Toulouse averaged just a fraction under 5,000 in their one season in Super League. Allow them time to grow and build, and that number could rise.

Oldham​

The outsiders, at least for 2026, are Oldham. It feels somewhat unlikely at this stage that a club ranked 27th on the gradings this time last year will do enough to convince a panel they are ready for Super League now: though their gradings score will significantly rise.
Oldham have aggressively recruited a squad to compete at the top of the Championship at least in 2026. Names like Jonny Lomax, Jack Hughes and Josh Charnley have been linked with moves. More big names will likely join, too.

There is financial backing and a long-term commitment to grow Oldham, and they have a facility in Boundary Park that could host Super League and not look out of place.

The big concern for Oldham would be: is it too soon for them? It’s a fair argument that they need at least one more year competing at the top of the Championship and showcasing their growth on and off the field.

London Broncos​

Perhaps the most intriguing club of them all in this debate is London. In the eyes of some – including club officials who have spoken to Love Rugby League – the Broncos are strong favourites to get back in the big time in 2026.
On the face of it, there’s logic behind it. After all: it’s London. It’s expansion, and no matter what people think, having a team from the capital in your elite competition makes you more viable and attractive a proposition.

But that team has to be strong, and thriving. Which London hasn’t been for quite some time. They’re still in a state of flux following the Gary Hetherington-led takeover and the events of the last 18 months have set them back a touch in areas where they were traditionally strong, such as junior development.

Those pathways were hit hard by the financial problems the Broncos had though they are being rebuilt.
However, London have a premiere venue, as anyone who has been to Wimbledon can testify to.
We need a strong London, not just a London. Whether they’re strong enough to come back in for 2026 remains to be seen but you get the feeling the Broncos may well be more likely to have a chance taken upon them than others.

Analysing the pros and cons of every Super League expansion hopeful

Multiple Championship teams are pushing to be in an expanded Super League in 2026. But what are the pros and cons of all clubs in the mix? Here's our take.

www.loverugbyleague.com

 

[Perth Red]

What on earth has that got to do with anything? Rugby League is bleak because it is bleak, I’m afraid. It was bleak when Saints wiped the floor with everyone for four years and it is now. Equally, now Hull KR aren’t cannon fodder, it doesn’t make the game great. The thing is, the game appears bleaker and we can point to small ‘wins’ but totally ignoring the actual big things that matter like the ever decreasing TV deal.

It is though, isn’t it? Any sign of any negative and it’s “yeah but no loop games” or “hey, look at a handful of quality games we’ve had this year” completely ignoring the negatives, criticisms of what is being brought in and the facts and completely refusing to acknowledge that there is a flip side to toeing the party line of a governance of Wood, off the back of a review (not been made public, I will add) led by Derek Beaumont.

I’m sorry to piss on your chips because you’re doing well but we have:

* Nigel Wood back in the game. A figure much maligned by pretty much all quarters in the sport

* We have decided to extend the top division to 14 teams, failing to work with Sky on this, the broadcaster of the sport, who either now have to find £500,000 to show something they don’t really want to show or the sport has to find that figure.

* Sport England are looking at their involvement and investment into the sport following the re-appointment of Nigel Wood.

* The NRL are said to have been less enamoured by Nigel Wood during his time at International Rugby League Federation and that is very likely to affect the relationship between Super League and NRL.

* We have Nigel Wood in, who genuinely reckons that 4,000 Leigh fans not only travelled to Catalans but then each spent £1,000 in France. Not only are his figures of the amount of Leigh fans travelling way off, his figures of what they spent is way off as it’s well known and publicised that most away fans stay in Spain in resort towns like Lloret De Mar and bus in to Perpignan on the day of the game. For each to have spent £1,000 in Perpignan, they’d have had to have a spend of somewhere between £200-250 an hour.

* We have identified loop fixtures as the evil of the game when we have had loop fixtures in some form for all but one Super League season and for about 25 years out of 130.

* Last time we went to 14 teams, we abandoned it pretty quickly because fans got bored with game after game of little to no meaning, teams finishing in the bottom half of the table being in with a chance of being Grand Final winners and a drop off in attendances at the end of the season for sides with nothing to play for. All of this lead to the thirst for “every minute matters” and the creation of the Super 8’s to try and grasp attention all year around.

* Considering the little money we have, we’ve taken IMG onboard, rightly or wrongly, spent six figures a year on them, thrown all of their advice to one side, done whatever we’ve felt like and continue to throw money down the drain at them to do very little now.

* We are creating a specific set of criteria for two sides to join the league, whilst using a different set of criteria for the existing 12. The criteria is being led by a former chairman of one club who think they should profit from this and a future CEO of another, who are appointing someone to make the ultimate decision, which has led to questions raised over the credibility of the whole process.

But hey, Leeds v KR, what a game.

Frickign hell I bet you're a real bundle of joy at parties!
You keep choosing to see a bleak world, I'll choose to be excited about new clubs coming into SL, end of loops, a good chance that SL in years to come will be stronger and more enjoyable for having new teams in it with a chance of them becoming bigger than some of the current dross in the comp. Not to mention the Ashes test matches, Vegas and Paris next year, strong attendances, and the mighty Robins lifting more silverware!

The game got issues, the games had issues since 1895. Its still here, its resilient, and I enjoy watching it as much as I ever have. Long live Rugby league!

 

[Jonty]

Regan Grace closes in on rugby league return with surprise club

Exclusive: The Super League champion is heading towards a rugby league return!

www.alloutrugbyleague.co.uk

 

[Perth Red]

What I hope happens
York overtake Salford for 12th spot
Bradford and Toulouse get admitted into the 13th and 14th spots
In next 3-4 years SL expands again with London + someone (maybe Oldham) for a 16 team comp

I could live with York and Bradford replacing Hudds and Salford in the IMG gradings, but Ken Davy is a lovely guy and it would be very sad for him. London and Toulouse to come in in that case.

 

[Taking The Two]

Championship and League One teams are meeting today in Oldham to vote on the amalgamation of the two leagues. It’s likely to be voted in. 19 teams outside Super League as of next year, so it’ll be interesting how that works.

 

[Jonty]

Championship and League One teams are meeting today in Oldham to vote on the amalgamation of the two leagues. It’s likely to be voted in. 19 teams outside Super League as of next year, so it’ll be interesting how that works.

Is that 19 including or excluding the teams that will join super league?

 

[Taking The Two]

Is that 19 including or excluding the teams that will join super league?

Excluding. As of right now we have 12 in Super League, 13 in the Championship and 10 in League One, so 35 in total. As of 2026, we’ll have 21 left outside of Super League, providing all clubs make it to the start line and don’t go bust, pull out or merge.

Got my numbers messed up. It’s 21.

 

[BODISGOD]

I could live with York and Bradford replacing Hudds and Salford in the IMG gradings, but Ken Davy is a lovely guy and it would be very sad for him. London and Toulouse to come in in that case.

What signal does it give to investors if you give the boot to someone who has poured money into the sport?

 

[Taking The Two]

What signal does it give to investors if you give the boot to someone who has poured money into the sport?

What signal does it give investors when you change structure every couple of years? Make foreign clubs as welcome as a paedophile in a playground? Create a system that is very likely to work in favour of a couple of specific clubs?

 

[Taking The Two]

Two divisions outside of Super League is gone. The final decision on what the amalgamation looks like will be decided at another board meeting.

 

[Taking The Two]

So, on further reading, the Super 8's to decide promotion and relegation from the Championship to League One and vice versa is redundant, so the rest of the games this season are completely meaningless and the whole Super 8's process is, for want of a better phrase, a waste of everyone's time and resources when those involved have effectively been promoted or have survived, anyway. The clubs are discussing canning it for this year, which does make a bit of sense, in all honesty. There is a delicious irony to all of this, though. Super League sees an unbalanced fixture list as the devil, yet the majority of teams clearly don't and have voted in a system in which is going to continue an unbalanced fixture list. Rugby League is never dull.

The composition of the conferences is going to be interesting. Do we split teams into 7 3's and each team plays the other two teams in their 3 home and away and then plays the other 18 either at home or away, so 22 games in total? That still leaves space for the 1895 Cup to be played. Have the ten lowest ranked sides from the year before play in R1 of the 1895 Cup and then the 5 winners join the 11 highest ranked sides from the previous year to play in R2?

 

[Perth Red]

RFL statement on Championship:

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐅𝐋 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩/𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲.
The 23 clubs from Betfred Championship and League One met in Oldham today to consider the best structure below Super League from 2026 following last week’s decision of the Betfred Super League clubs to approve expansion to a 14-team competition next year.
There was a healthy debate over a range of options presented by members of the Strategic Review Sub-Committee that was formed in the spring at the request of the clubs: preserving the status quo of two divisions; reverting to a single division, possibly split into East/West Conferences; or the introduction of three Conferences of seven.
The overwhelming view was that the current structure is not working and change is therefore required.
The final decision on the competition structure outside Super League rests with the Board of the Rugby Football League.
Clubs will therefore be invited to offer further formal feedback and preference within the next week, ahead of consideration by a specially arranged RFL Board meeting – both regarding the 2026 structure, and any implications on the remainder of the 2025 season (most obviously the Middle Eights).

 

[Perth Red]

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters is not fully on board with the idea of a 14-team Super League, believing the competition could lose its competitive edge; however, he remains hopeful that it could grow the game.

Last week, it was decided that Super League would once again become a 14-team competition from 2026, with the idea to both grow the game and eliminate loop fixtures.
Of the 12 current Super League sides, nine voted in favour of expansion. Wigan Warriors abstained from voting while Hull FC and current table-toppers KR voted against it.

Under the current proposal, the first 12 sides in the competition next year will be decided via the IMG grading system; however, teams 13 and 14 will be decided by an independent panel.

‘How far ahead have we planned?’​

The response from coaches and fans alike has so far been mixed to say the least, and now Peters has delivered his own verdict.

“Look, these are all decisions made higher than me, but my initial thoughts are how much thought and planning went into it?” Peters told members of the media on Wednesday afternoon.

“How far ahead have we planned, or was it just a spur-of-the-moment thing?

“One thing I say regularly, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to say it next year, is that this competition is exciting because anyone can beat anyone on their day.
“Aside from the Salford situation, every team can beat everyone. We nearly got beaten by Castleford in round one, and they beat Warrington and nearly beat Wigan as well. Anyone can beat anyone.

“My questions would be where are the players going to come from?

“And how strong are those other teams going to be?

“They’re the questions that need answering.”
As a club, KR opted to vote against the expansion to 14 teams in 2026 but not entirely. Their argument was that the expansion was the correct thing to do, but in 2027 rather than next year.

Peters continued: “If we have 14 elite teams, then great, because we need to grow the game. I know there are financial reasons I’m not privvy to, but from the point of having an elite competition, I’m not 100% sure that’s the best way to do it.

“I’m not sure how we’re going to get all those players. They’re increasing teams in the NRL, and they’re looking over here for players, so if they do take players, where are we getting those other players from?

“The positives of the new 10 quota spots, and I wasn’t on board initially, though, as I think it’s important for the English game that players here get an opportunity, but it does opens up the market, so you’re not paying overs and there’s a bigger pool.

“There are pros and cons, like anything, and at the end of the day it’s above me, but if it’s 14 teams and it works, then happy days.”

Willie Peters makes telling admission on Super League expansion as concerns aired

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters is not fully on board with the idea of a 14-team Super League, believing the competition could lose its competitive edge.

www.loverugbyleague.com

 

[Perth Red]

ST Helens Chairman