Super League, a few thoughts

Having read an excellent blog post by Tony Hannan, (@tonehannan on twitter) regarding the structure of rugby league and a possible American football style East and West Championship, I thought I would add my thoughts on the current set-up.

The issue for me regards the structure of the Championship. At the moment I feel that this division is mix of teams with serious Super League aspirations, and teams who are content to stay as a semi-pro team.

The current franchising criteria appears to be set up against the smaller clubs. It is always going to be hard work to get regular attendances of over 2.500 in a division which offers no incentive of promotion. Non rugby-league fans struggle to grasp why I would watch my own team, Sheffield, when I know we have no chance of Super League rugby. With this the case, how are teams across the Championship going to attract new supporters to allow them to reach the goal of 2,500 fans, when teams in Super League struggle to meet this at times.

However, despite this I understand the need for clubs to reach certain criteria to participate in Super League. Nowadays, the gap is between professional and semi-professional is as wide as ever. This is not necessarily in terms of the playing squads, as Barrow’s win at Castleford and performances by Halifax and Sheffield in the Challenge Cup in recent years have proven, but in the infrastructure of the clubs right down to youth and academy levels.

Therefore, I would propose a set-up in which Super League is cut to 10 teams, with a Super League 2nd division incorporating 10 teams who have Super League aspirations. Clubs in the Super League 2nd division would have to make a commitment that Super League is their target, through the establishment of academy and reserve teams, and display that the have a financial ability to fund a Super League team, it is merely not enough to look upon stadia and number of spectators as the key to Super League survival.

An example of this could be:

Super League

Wigan
Leeds
Huddersfield
Hull
Hull KR
Catalans
Bradford
Saints
Castleford
Warrington

Super League 2

Salford
Wakefield
Harlequins
Crusaders
Featherstone
Widnes
Sheffield
Toulouse
Leigh
Halifax

Promotion and relegation would be in place in this structure. Promotion to the Super League would be through a play-off and Grand final system. The thought behind such a league would be that the teams in Super League 2 would already be meeting certain guidelines set out by the RFL, so that a subsequent promotion to the Super League would not have such a dramatic effect on the clubs finances and infrastructure. Additionally, clubs who do not make the Super League 2, should have an opportunity to join this set up.

There are flaws in this set-up I am sure. However I believe that the key to a healthy Super League is a competition for places, with a more professionalised structure throughout the leagues. Certainly, there is a feeling amongst Championship clubs that they are the poor relations in comparison to their Super League rivals.