If I won Euromillons, and ran the RFL…
Now hear me out, could an 8 team Elite league with a completely clear structure and an open pathway to the top for lower teams actually work?
In a perfect world and with the right sponsors on board, I think it could be great. For example…
Iron Bru Super 8’s (15 games + top 4 play offs)
– 1 day Millenium Magic opener at Cardiff (Fixtures based on previous seasons league places)
– Sky Deal (highlights plus 2 live games per week)
– £4m salary cap (exemptions for academy players, ONE import player allowed)
– Wooden spooners relegated to RL Championship
– Enter Admin = relegated to RL Championship
Wigan
St Helens
Warrington
Widnes
Huddersfield
Leeds
Catalans
London
LoveRugbyLeague.com Championship (18 games + top 5 play offs)
– Sky deal (highlights plus 2 live games per week)
– £1.6m Salary Cap (exemptions for academy players, ONE import player allowed)
– Grand Final at City of Manchester Stadium
– Winners directly go up to Super 8
– Wooden spooners relegated to RL Division 1
– Enter Admin = relegated to RL Division 1
Hull FC
Hull KR
Bradford
Halifax
Salford
Leigh
Crusaders
Featherstone
Castleford
Wakefield
(Tolouse into French Elite and the Jet2.com Cup (a 20 team post season Anglo-French tournament) replaces Northern Rail cup)
LoveRugbyLeague.com RL Division 1 (18 games + top 5 play offs)
– Sky deal (Highlights + 1 live game per week)
– £750,000 Salary Cap (exemptions for academy players, ONE import player allowed)
– Grand Final at Blackpool
– Winners directly go up to RL Championship
– Wooden spooners relegated to RL Division 2
– Enter Admin = relegated to RL Division 2
Sheffield
York
Hunslet
Batley
Dewsbury
Keighley
Barrow
Whitehaven
Swinton
Oldham
LoveRugbyLeague.com RL Division 2 (14 games + top 5 play offs)
– RFL subsidised travel costs
– Sky deal (Extended Highlights)
– 50% turnover upto £200,000 Salary Cap (exemptions for academy players, ONE import player allowed)
– Grand Final at Blackpool
– Winners directly go up to RL Division 1
– Wooden spooners reapply for their place
– Enter Admin = relegated to ‘Tier 5’
Rochdale
Doncaster
Workington
South Wales
Gateshead
London Skolars
Nottingham Outlaws
Coventry Bears
Then the Co-Operative ‘Tier 5’ National amateur leagues (winners can apply to RL Division 2)
Then the Co-Operative ‘Tier 6’ Regional amateur leagues (winners can apply to Tier 5)
Then the Co-Operative ‘Tier 7’ Regional Merit leagues (anyone can apply to Tier 6)
With everyone now playing summer, The Carnegie Challenge Cup starts in March with 128 English & French teams and adds a further 7 matchday weekends. 24 ‘pro’ clubs join at the last 64 and Super 8 teams join at the last 32. Final at Wembley. 2 games per round Shown on BBC/ITV.
The Jet-2.com Anglo-French cup is made up of the 20 clubs from the English Championship and the French Elite 1.
– 5 groups of 4 (2 English, 2 french) giving 6 more matchdays.
– 5 winners + 3 best runners up into quarter finals.
– Final alternates between England and France each year (Doncaster Keepmoat/Stade Gilbert Brutus).
– 1 game per week Shown on ITV 4/Premier Sports and OrangeSport TV, plus extended highlights.
And finally the Midweek Premier Sports TV League cup, played on Wednesday nights, giving teams upto 5 midweek matchdays (Super 8’s join at last 16), with the final at Headingley/Huddersfield.
(N.B. Sponsors are purely hypothetical…)
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I think this kind of structure could give Rugby League in England excactly what everyone wants. The smaller divisions would provide much more competitive and exciting games across the board for the fans. It would be a slightly reduced season, but with plenty of opportunity for home games to keep the chairmen happy. More importantly, it would give clubs the opportunity to find their own level and achieve their ambitions, whatever they may be.
Fans of some clubs may not be happy about the league their beloved team is in initially, buit surely if they are as good as they say they are, they will go up after the first season?
A slightly reduced season would give us more opportunity for International fixtures both mid & post season, and with just ONE import player alloowed for each team in every division (and NO silly loopholes!), it would give our homegrown players their chance to shine.
If only I was in charge of the RFL, could it work? What do you think…?